Eldin
by EmerMarie
Summary: When a Lucario, who dons a different fur color, finds himself known to the humans, he had constantly avoided capture. When a strange group of humans invade Iron Island, can a Trainer named Eliade gain his trust and protect him?
1. Different

**Having finally regained some confidence in my writing skills, I've started writing a Pokémon fanfic after playing Pokémon HeartGold. I figured I would use a Lucario as the main character here since I've seen a fair few Lucario fanfics being, well... not so good in my opinion (though there _are_ some that are really great). So I figured I'd give this a try. I was practicing with my story making in Pokemon, so this fanfic is more like an experiment. If you like this fanfic, I might continue it.**

**All the Pokémon here, except for the main Lucario, were based off of Pokémon I've actually raised in my Diamond (mostly) and Platinum games, nicknames and all.**

**I do not own Pokémon, which is copyrighted to Nintendo. I do, however, own Eliade (which is pronounced as Eh-Lie-Ed here, in case you don't know).**

**Edit: Fixed a few mistakes.**

* * *

_**Eldin**_

_**Chapter One**_

* * *

"There it is!"

The Pokémon that the foolish humans were trying to capture was no stranger to this. In fact, this was practically everyday life for him. Always on the run. Always evading the humans to avoid being a mindless slave...

"Use Flamethrower to pin it down!"

A shock of panic instantly spreaded through the golden-colored Pokémon's mind. Fire. That was one of its major weaknesses... He had to get away _now_. With a brief glance, he noticed that a Houndoom was among the three humans, one of them being a female. The dark-colored dog opened its mouth as a burst of flames came billowing out. Thankfully, the Pokémon knew his way around the island he was living on. Using the Flamethrower as an advantage, he jumped forward to get further away before jumping up into a nearby tree and far away from the three humans. The Pokémon smirked to himself as he heard the three humans curse at the fact that he was able to get away.

"Damn it!" the first human, a man, the owner of the Houndoom, cursed out, "It got away _again!_"

"We've been chasing that same thing five times already!" the second human, also a man, spoke, "Can't we just look for something else?"

"No way!" the third human, the female, said, "I _want_ that Lucario! The fact that it's a different color from most makes it all the _more_ reason to capture it!"

The Lucario's eyes narrowed at the sound of their speech. He had learned how to understand human language by closely listening to the humans that had come to the island, known as Iron Island to the humans. Because of this, he was able to understand the human female's words. A different color. All the more reason to capture him.

He fled further into the mountains in order to prevent the humans from spotting him again.

* * *

The next day came as the Lucario slowly crawled out of his small cave, keeping an eye out for any humans in the process. Bringing himself up to his feet, he looked down and saw that it had rained a little while he was sleeping, for a puddle was resting on the ground in front of him. Slowly bending forward, the Lucario noticed its reflection for the first time in a while. He knew very well that most Lucarios, especially Riolus, normally had blue fur with a yellow furred torso (or yellow collars for Riolus). In his case, he has yellow fur, and his torso was snow white. His color was rare among his kind, a color he hated. It was because of this... color he had that he was banished from his home on the other side of the island. He brushed away some sparkles in disgust.

The Lucario growled at himself. More than once he longed to be with his fellow brethren again, but because he once drew attention of the humans that almost led them to their quiet homeland, he was exiled from his one and only home. While some of the fellow Lucarios have forgiven him, many others, including the main leader, have not.

It had been over three hundred and fifty-eight days since he had been exiled. He couldn't remember the exact number, but it was around there.

Having not eaten in over two days, the golden-colored Lucario went out for forage for food. He had hoped that the trees located near the side of the mountain he was on has grown some berries, preferably either Oran or Sitrus berries, despite the Iron Island not exactly being the finest region for plants to grow. The only downside for this was that the place of where he was heading to, also lead to where humans would travel around the island to train their Pokémon that had been turned into slaves. Well, most of them at least. Rarely, the Lucario would spot a trainer or two occasionally that would treat them kindly. Especially the pink-haired lady wearing a white apron that would occasionally leave food behind for the other Pokémon that live on the island to feed on. However, the Lucario didn't dare to go near any of the humans, not even the woman that would come occasionally. For he knew that all the humans had only one thing as soon as they lay their eyes on him: Capture.

Then one day, everything changed for him.

For the past ten days, he had seen a man dressed in blue walk around the island and into the caves, and the Pokémon that would walk beside him... was a Lucario. And a normal one at that.

The golden-colored Lucario would often try to hide his aura signature in hopes of the Lucario that belonged to the man in blue would not find him. Although very difficult, it was possible for a Pokémon, mainly one of the Lucario's own kind, to hide their aura signatures from others that can sense it. Thankfully, it seemed to have worked, for the Lucario with the man didn't seem to notice him.

The other odd thing that has been occurring lately were the oddly dressed humans that have been coming here. They wore the same weird-looking gray and white outfits with them having neon green bowl cuts. Not to mention that there has been a decrease in the amount of Pokémon around the area lately. The golden-colored Lucario knew that occasionally other humans known as "Pokémon Trainers" would come and capture other Pokémon around here, but not enough to the point of most of them mysteriously disappearing. This didn't concern him much, though, since he was of no acquaintance to any of the Geodudes, Golbats, and even the occasional Onix and Steelix that would be seen roaming around. Still, this might be good. Less competition for food this way.

Sniffing around in hopes of finding promising scents, the Lucario quickly scanned the area. Sadly, there didn't seem to be any food nearby. He was about to give up until a familiar scent caught his attention. A Sitrus Berry. Excited, he quickly but carefully made his way towards the source that produced the smell of the berry. Sure enough, he found it, but there was a problem. The Sitrus Berry was night next to a human.

The human was female, most likely a young adult, clad in red. Her skin was around the color of brown sugar. Her dark brown-black hair, tied loosely, reached down to the middle of her back. A small pot of some sort was in front of her as a small fire from below was boiling the water inside. She picked up the Sitrus Berry from earlier and started cutting it into small pieces before tossing them into the pot of boiling water, much to the Lucario's dismay.

Shoving aside the disappointment, the Lucario then examined the three Pokémon that was with her from a distance.

The largest one that stood out was a large pink Pokémon that had white and yellow odd markings on its chest and belly, with a curled appendage on its head. It drooled with its long tongue at the sight of the pot.

"Louie, you need to be patient," the human spoke with a small humored laugh, "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes, okay?"

"Licki..." the pokémon, a Lickilicky, murmured.

The Lucario then turned at the other two Pokémon that were with the human. One of them was a red and white Pokémon with yellow appendages, there was also a flame continuously dancing about on its head. An Infernape. And it seemed wary of something.

"Koki?" the human seemed to have noticed this, "Is something wrong?"

The Infernape shook its head before meditating again. The female human shrugged before continuing her business with the pot.

The Lucario again turned his attention to the Pokémon that was sitting contently, minding its own business. The Lucario instantly recognized this pokémon, she was a Miltank. He knew this because occasionally, the pink-haired human woman would sometimes bring a Miltank with her for some reason... The Lucario then noticed that the Miltank was keeping a dark blue egg with a black stripe, which was protected in a clear container of some sort, warm by gently snuggling it.

"I see you're being motherly as usual, Beverly," the human mused while looking a little worriedly at the egg, "I hope we find the owner of that egg soon..."

The Lucario instantly recognized the features that was printed on the egg. It was a Riolu egg. Did she steal it from the small pack of the Aura Pokémon that live on the other side of the island? This was unlikely, for it seemed that she was actually trying to _locate_ the proper owner. He could tell that the egg was in good hands, though. Mainly because of the Miltank, whom the human referred to as "Beverly."

The Lucario felt that he had lingered long enough, not to mention that he was well aware that he wouldn't be able to find food here. Quietly, he tried to sneak away in hopes of not alerting any of them. For he was sure that the human will try to capture him as soon as she sees him, and that Infernape looked really fast. Just like that foolish woman and the two men with the Houndoom from the previous day...

_**SNAP!**_

"_Goo-Kaa!_"

The Lucario barely had any time to think as he had to jump away from where he was standing to avoid the Flamethrower just now. The blasted twig that had snapped at his feet just moments before...

"Koki! Stop!"

Everyone froze as the human and her Pokémon laid their eyes on the golden-colored Lucario. He tensed as he noticed the human studying him carefully while she and the others had a defensive stance. However, they seemed more concerned about the egg rather than him.

"Oh," the human broke the silence as she relaxed and smiled a little, "It's just a Lucario. Not everyday we come across a wild one, much less a shiny one at that."

Shiny? What did the human mean by that? Come to think of it, the Lucario would occasionally brush off a few sparkles out of habit. Was this the reason why so many humans have tried to capture him? Because he was possibly... a shiny? Or whatever the human had called him? Something else irked him, though. For the Lucario had noticed that the human girl had made no attempt in capturing him. The Infernape looked wary as usual, for he was breathing a few embers.

"Koki, you may relax now," she gently placed a hand on the fire and fighting-type Pokémon's arm, "It's fine."

The Infernape obeyed without question, but it still looked a little wary of the golden-colored Lucario that was standing in front of them.

The human looked at the Lucario again with a studious look on her face before looking back at her pot, "Must've been drawn here by the scent of the berries," she looked at him again, though she was speaking more to herself, "No... doesn't look like it's eaten in a while..." She then shrugged before checking the contents in her cooking pot, "Huh, it's ready. Louie, you can tell that Lucario that it's free to join us if it wants to."

The Lucario rose a brow at her words and tensed as the Lickilicky slowly moved towards him.

"You want to come and eat?" the Lickilicky spoke in Pokémon, "Eliade says it's okay."

The Lucario didn't say anything.

The Lickilicky tilted his head ever so slightly before repeating, "Eliade says it's okay."

"...Eliade?" the Lucario growled in distrust.

The Lickilicky shivered a little, "S-She's the h-human over there. I-I'm not going to do anything! Eliade won't try to capture you, I swear!"

"...How do you know?" he growled again.

"She only takes in Pokémon that want to be with her," the Lickilicky spoke.

"So you joined her by your own free will?" the Lucario asked with a growl, still a little wary.

"Well..." the Lickilicky paused for a moment, "She's been with me ever since I hatched out of my egg, but... That's not the point!"

"Louie?" the human, now known to the Lucario as "Eliade," turned her head towards them.

She seemed to have noticed that the Lucario wasn't exactly very trusting, so she took the matter in her own hands. She grabbed her bag and placed her hand inside of it. The Lucario tensed, this was the gesture that the humans would do whenever they see him. Sure enough, one of those infamous red and white _things_ called _Poké Balls_ fell out, but the human ignored it. She then eventually took out a familiar yellow object, which the Lucario recognized it to be a Sitrus Berry, looking freshly picked at that. She grabbed the Poké Ball, but instead of trying to capture the golden-colored Pokémon, she simply tossed it back into her bag. Standing up, the human slowly made her way towards the Lucario with one hand holding the Sitrus Berry. The golden-colored Lucario tensed again, preparing himself to flee in case she were to try to do anything funny. When she was about two feet away from him, she slowly extended her hand that was holding the Sitrus Berry towards him.

The Lucario closed his eyes briefly to see her aura signature. Normally, the majority of the living things around the world, humans and Pokémon being the best examples, had a mere coat of aura covering them. But in the human's, Eliade's, case, to the Lucario's surprise, her aura was practically flaring. The blue aura around her continuously flared about, which caused the Lucario to shudder inwardly, for he couldn't tell what her inner intentions may be _at all_.

"You don't look like you've eaten in a while," the human gave out a serene smile, "You can have this if you want it."

The Lucario narrowed his eyes a little, debating whether he should take the berry or not.

The human seemed to have realized this, for she took back her hand and broke off a very small piece of the berry before turning to the large, pink Pokémon beside her, "Louie."

The Lickilicky turned his attention to his Trainer.

"Here," she handed him the tiny piece she broke off by dropping it onto his tongue.

The Lickilicky, known to the human as "Louie," rolled his long tongue back into his mouth and happily ate the small berry chunk without hesitation. Well, at least this led the Lucario to discover that the Sitrus Berry wasn't _poisoned_.

Eliade, the human, stretched the hand with the berry out to the Lucario again. He hesitated for a moment, but then hunger took over, for he quickly snatched the berry right from her hands and started eating it hungrily. To his surprise, this was one of the juiciest Sitrus Berries he has eaten in a long while. Most of the few berries that would grow around here these days always seemed to be half dried from lack of water and/or too much exposure from the sun.

"Wow," Eliade rose a brow as soon as the Lucario finished eating, "You _really_ haven't eaten in a while. When was the last time you ate?" she shook her head in a somewhat pitied manner as she turned around and filled a few small bowls of the concoction that she made in the pot from berries. She handed one bowl to the Infernape, another to the Miltank, and one for herself. She took out another bowl and filled it as well. For the remaining leftover, which was enough to fill around five bowls, "All yours, Louie."

While the Lickilicky, Louie, was lifting the pot and pouring the contents into his mouth, the human named Eliade pointed at the one bowl that wasn't being touched while facing the Lucario, "That's one's for you." With that said, she simply took out a spoon from her bag and started to eat the contents in her own bowl.

The Lucario was now baffled. Why would a complete stranger, especially one with such a tremendous amount of aura, not have any interest into capturing him? He then remembered that Louie, the Lickilicky, had said something about her taking only Pokémon that wanted to be with her. Considering the fact that he had no intention of joining her, the human respected it.

He then looked at the bowl that the human had gently placed on the ground in front of him. Looking at the Infernape, he noticed that the fire monkey was slowly and gently pulling the chunks of berries out from the bowl and into his mouth. The Infernape, Koki, then lifted the bowl near his mouth and started drinking the liquid. This also convinced the golden-colored Lucario that whatever the stewed food was, it wasn't poisoned. Keeping his eye on the human, who was watching him while eating, the Lucario slowly picked up a chunk of what seemed to be an Oran Berry before slowly eating it. To his surprise, it was just as good as the Sitrus Berry from earlier, if not better. Since the contents of the stew weren't exactly easy to take with him if he were to flee, he didn't let his guard down. As he slowly continued to eat, the human, Eliade, studied him carefully.

"Wonder where that scar came from..." the Lucario heard her muse. He slowly looked down on his chest and saw the old scar that ran slightly diagonally across his chest, part of it also on the spike. His eyes narrow slightly at the memory of how he obtained this scar, not long after he had evolved into the being he is now...

After consuming the last of the stew, liquid and all, the Lucario instantly jumped away from the group. Seeing that the human, Eliade, had made no attempt into catching, much less following him, he made a small bow in thanks before using ExtremeSpeed to take his leave. Although he didn't think about it much, he could've sworn that he actually saw a small pang of worry etched onto her face...

* * *

Roughly about two to three hours later, the Lucario found that something was wrong.

More Pokémon had mysteriously disappeared. The primary example was the Onix that would daily come across the area where the Lucario's small cave was to forage. The Onix _never_ misses the chance to do its task for any reason. So where could it be? The Lucario shook it off his mind soon after. Some idiotic human probably captured the giant rock snake not too long ago. The Lucario then remembered the human he met hours ago, could she have captured it? This was highly unlikely, because he couldn't detect the aura of an Onix nearby. Then again, he couldn't detect _any_ of the aura from her three Pokémon, either. This was because of the human's outrageously flaming aura, for it kept blocking out the other aura signatures within a ten foot radius _at least_. Just what _was_ she?

_"She only takes in Pokémon that want to be with her."_

The Lucario shook his head a little while remembering the Lickilicky's words. The Onix never showed any interest in joining with the humans, so the human probably didn't capture it. If she hadn't, then who did?

Although he wasn't bothered by it that much, it wouldn't hurt to see if he could find out what's going on. ...Right?

The caves within the mountains of the Iron Island were often the places that the Lucario tends to avoid, especially since the humans would occasionally roam around inside. Still, the Lucario felt that he had to find out what was happening to the Pokémon that have gone missing.

Just when he was about to climb down the high rocks he was on, he spotted the man in blue, who was standing on top of a stairway that led to a cave within the island's largest mountain, that has been coming to the island for quite a while. And the Pokémon that was standing right by him was, of course, the same normal blue Lucario. The golden-colored had to suppress his aura signature enough to the point so that the other Aura Pokémon wouldn't notice him. He was about to leave when he then spotted...

The human girl in red named Eliade.

Only the Miltank, who was carrying the Riolu egg that was protected inside of a container, was seen walking beside her Trainer. The Lickilicky and Infernape were probably contained in those Poké Balls that could barely be seen on the human's belt. The golden-colored Lucario watched the human named Eliade and the Miltank climb up the stairway as well. When she came across the man in blue with his Lucario, the man became somewhat ecstatic. The golden-colored Lucario was barely able to hear what they were saying.

"Ah!" the man in blue jumped a little as he spotted the egg that was carried by the Miltank, "That's...!"

"This is your egg, sir?" the girl in red asked as she pointed at it.

"Yes, it is," the man in blue sighed in relief, "Thank you so much for looking after it. Lucario and I were worried sick when we found that the egg was stolen..."

"It's no problem," the girl in red said as her Miltank then handed the egg over to the Lucario next to the man in blue, "One of those Galactic Grunts had it. He said that he stole it from someone after I managed to beat him."

"Galactic Grunt?" the man in blue repeated, "You mean the people wearing those weird gray and white suits?"

"Yep," the human nodded in annoyance, "They're a bunch of scums that steal Pokémon. I've come across them a bunch of times. This isn't the first time they've stolen something from someone," she paused for a moment, "...Though this _is_ the first time I've come across someone that has stolen an _egg_."

The man in blue laughed for a bit, "Still, thank you. Here," he then took out a flat circular object out of his pocket, "You can have this if you want it."

"Is that an HM?" she asked.

"Yes. It contains the move Strength."

"Sweet! I needed one!" she then took the HM out of the man's hands and placed it in her bag, "Thanks!"

"Think of it as my token of gratitude," the man in blue said, "By the way, I'm Riley. And you are...?"

"Oh, right, sorry, heh," the girl in red laughed a little, "I'm Eliade. And this my friend, Beverly."

"Ah, a Miltank," the man in blue, know known as Riley, spoke as he took a closer look at her, "She looks really well trained."

The girl in red, Eliade, shrugged, "She's been with me for years. She's always so motherly to the baby Pokémon my dad raises back at the family ranch at home."

"I see. Anyways, that aside," Riley then said, "I've been investigating the strange behavior that the Pokémon around here has been having lately. Not to mention there has also been a decrease in the sightings of Pokémon here."

"Oh, yeah, I heard about that," Eliade then had a thoughtful look on her face, "I was about to check it out as well..."

"In that case, we could team up, if you'd like," Riley offered while his Lucario was looking around in odd directions.

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea," Eliade nodded, "It might be safer for the both of us, too."

"I'll heal up your Pokémon if they get hurt. It's the least I can do since you've saved the egg."

"All right, if you insist," Eliade said as she then made her way into the cave, "I hope we can get to the bottom of this soon so I can get back to Canalave City, I don't want Alicia to worry about me..."

"Lucario? What's wrong?" Riley suddenly spoke as he then noticed his friend looking around in many directions. Riley's Lucario then looked at his Trainer before shaking its head. Riley rose a brow, "If you say so..."

The golden-colored Lucario, who was watching from afar, couldn't hear whatever the humans were saying next because they have entered the cave that was near them. The Lucario wondered to himself, would it hurt to come across the human girl's, Eliade's, path again? Since she made no attempt into capturing him, he figured that he probably won't have to worry about her. However, he didn't know about the man in blue, who was called Riley. Even though he already has a Lucario with him, he didn't know if the man in blue would want to capture him or not. Still...

He then thought about the Riolu egg. Apparently, the Lucario that was with the man named Riley was the parent of the tiny Riolu contained inside of the egg. He couldn't tell, because Eliade's flaring aura blocked it out. Although he didn't want to be associated with humans because of his experience with others humans trying to capture him in the past. However... would it hurt to see if the two humans have the possibility of what was causing the strange disappearances of the fellow Pokémon living here?

The Lucario jumped down and followed them inside of the caves before he made up his mind.

* * *

For what seemed to be about an hour or two, the golden-colored Lucario watched the two humans walk around the interior of the Iron Island. They would come across the occasional Golbat and Graveler, but they all seem too agitated to actually fight.

"This isn't good," he heard the man, Riley, say, "They're even more agitated than they were yesterday."

"Then we've got to find out what's causing this, and fast," Eliade spoke as she treated some wounds on Riley's Lucario, "I don't want the Lucario that's living here to disappear."

"Wait, a Lucario lives here?" Riley suddenly caught on.

The golden-colored Lucario twitched as he suppressed his aura even more. Great, now she was spreading the word about him!

"Yes," Eliade nodded, "It looked really starved, too. I managed to give it some food, but it doesn't look like it's been eating enough for the past few days."

"...I know from experience that Lucario, much less their pre-evolved form, Riolu, are excruciatingly hard to come across. I know that they can found in very small packs in mountains that are very difficult for humans to trek, but..."

Riley's Lucario seemed to be interested, for while he would look at Eliade in hopes of her saying more about it, he looked around in many directions again. This time looking curious.

"The one I'm talking about has a different fur color," she said as they continued on, "It had yellow fur instead of blue."

"An alternate-colored Pokémon?" Riley rose a brow, "Wow, I wish I could've seen it."

Eliade thought for a bit, "...I have a feeling we'll be seeing it again," she nodded a little with a small smile, "I'll admit, I've no intention in capturing it, but hopefully I'll be able to at least take a picture of it."

"I see."

The golden-colored Lucario blinked as he watched the humans and their Pokémon from behind a fairly large stalagmite. The Lucario that was with Riley now looked into the golden-colored Lucario's direction. He managed to hide behind the rock before the other Lucario could see him. He barely managed to suppress his aura in time, as well. Sweat beaded from the Lucario's head, praying to Arceus that neither of the humans and the Lucario that was with them would notice him.

He heard the humans talk about something regarding the agitated Pokémon while hearing footsteps. They were walking further into the cave. Making sure that no one within the group was aware of the Lucario's presence, he followed them from a distance.

Eventually, after about another hour of tireless trekking around the routes within the cave they were in, the golden-colored Lucario then spotted those two oddly dressed humans he saw a few days earlier.

"You again, Galactic..." he heard Eliade snarl as her Miltank looked at them angrily.

"...I get it now," he heard the man named Riley say as his Lucario growled, "I don't care what good reason you may have, but I don't want you bringing any trouble into my mine."

The Lucario became too infuriated to listen to whatever the oddly-dressed humans were saying as he then realized that they were the ones that had kidnapped the Pokémon that had gone missing. The two foolish humans even sent out a Pokémon of their own, one of then being one that the Lucario had despised, a Houndour. Its partner in combat turned out to be a Croagunk.

"Humans and Pokémon live together through the joys and sorrows..." Riley murmured, "This is how all the Trainers and Pokémon live here in Sinnoh! I won't allow anyone to defy that code of ethics! Come on, Eliade! This is one battle we cannot lose!"

"You got it!" the golden-colored Lucario watch the dark-skinned girl take a Poké Ball out from her belt, "Louie!"

The Poké Ball let out a burst of light as the Lickilicky shift into a defensive posture.

"Lucario," Riley said as his Aura Pokémon smirked a little as he jumped by Louie's side.

"Houndour! Use Flamethrower on Lucario!" one of the Galactic Grunts yell out.

"Louie!" the golden-colored Lucario heard Eliade shout out, "Defensive Combo Number Three!"

Louie, the Lickilicky, who was the only one who most likely understood what she was talking about, quickly moved himself in front of the Lucario. When the flames were close enough, Louie instantly curled himself up and started to rapidly roll forward, dispersing the flames. The move Louie used was Rollout, and while the flames were being dispersed, he instantly rolled his flaming self against the Croagunk before it could dodge.

Apparently, the to Galactic Grunts weren't going to be playing this fairly, for the both of them had just unleashed six Pokémon out at Eliade and Riley, three from each of the grunts.

"Hey! You can't do that in a Pokémon battle!" Riley shouted as he narrowly avoided a Glameow's Slash attack.

"Koki!" Eliade sent out her Infernape, "Flamethrower at the Zubat and Golbat! Get them out of the way!"

The Infernape obeyed without question as he unleashed a fairly powerful Flamethrower at the two Bat Pokémon. Unfortunately, the Golbat was too quick as it managed to dodge and slammed at the fire monkey with a fairly strong Wing Attack.

It then became instant chaos. The golden-colored Lucario, who was hiding all this while, finally noticed that the Miltank, who was taking cover behind some rocks away from the chaos, was carrying the Riolu egg from earlier. If she or the egg were to get hit by one of the Pokémon...

All of a sudden an Aura Sphere was aimed at the six Pokémon that were with the Galactics.

Throughout the confusion, the golden-colored Lucario found himself trying to protect the Miltank with the Riolu egg. He then realized that he was the one who unleashed the Aura Sphere from earlier.

_Why did I get myself into this mess_... He barely thought to himself as he found the dark-skinned human smiling.

"Hey, it's good to see you again!" she grinned, "Thanks for the helping hand!"

"So that's the Lucario you mentioned earlier," the human man in blue, Riley, raising a brow with a genuine smile, "It's good to know that it's all right."

The normal-colored Lucario that was with Riley rose a brow at him. The golden-colored Lucario quickly guessed that this one had probably never seen someone of their own kind in a different color. It was typical, though, considering the way the other Aura Pokémon living within that mountain on the other side of the island had reacted when he hatched out of his own egg with the golden-fur of his. He shuddered inwardly at the memory.

"That's a rare Pokémon! Let's grab it and split!" one of the Galactic Grunts suddenly shouted as he took out another Poké Ball, making it burst open while revealing a Beautifly, "Houndour! Use Flamethrower at the golden Lucario!"

Having suddenly realized that the Miltank named Beverly, along with the Riolu egg, were behind the Lucario, therefore being within the Flamethrower's path, he pushed them away before they could be burned. However, it came at a price.

The Flamethrower ended up hitting him instead.

". . . !" he refused to cry out in pain. Even though he was hit by one of his biggest weaknesses, he was somewhat happy that the Miltank and the Riolu egg were unscathed. However, worry was etched into the faces of Eliade and Riley, their Pokémon feeling the same way.

Before Eliade could do anything however, one of the Galactic Grunts suddenly commanded his Beautifly, "String Shot!"

The golden-colored Lucario couldn't move quickly enough to escape the binding silk as the burns from the Flamethrower had hindered him. He barely noticed that horror was etched onto Eliade's face. She quickly shifted her eyes at the surroundings before quickly glancing at her bag, she looked at the Lucario again.

This was bad... he was beginning to slip into unconsciousness. That Houndour's Flamethrower was stronger that he thought it was. Then again, he hasn't fought that many fire types, so the lack of experience could also be held responsible for that. As he struggled to stay awake and free himself from the Strong Shot that had tied him to the ground. He then heard a voice that sounded like Eliade's...

_Please... Forgive me!_

He felt a small light thump on his head before passing out.

* * *

**Sorry if the story was a bit confusing, since most of this takes place in the shiny Lucario's point of view, as it will most of the time. And I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes.**

**I'm sure that you may have noticed that one of the Galactic Grunts had a Beautifly. Just so you know, this was not a mistake. While it is true that neither of the Grunts had one in their team (I've made them use the team that you go up against in Platinum), I needed a Pokémon that could do a type of move that could restrict movement. Since Wurples and Beautiflies can easily do this, and the fact that you come across Grunts that have these, I'd thought I'd have one of the Grunts have one. Besides, just because it's a double battle doesn't mean that they have just three Pokémon each. Think of it as one of their... back up teams, I guess.**

**And yes, Eliade has dark skin here. You see, she was based off of one of Trainers I've created in my Pokémon Battle Revolution game. In the PBR game, she was a Cool Girl C (the letter modifies the skin color) and wore the red Forest Hero outfit. Out of the Pokémon she has so far, only Louie the Lickilicky was in her team in PBR.**

**Like I've said before, if you like this fanfic, I will continue it. Just leave me a review and tell me what you think.**


	2. Introductions

**Because of the two reviews that this fanfic has obtained, I figured I'd try continuing it just to see what happens. Once again, I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes, for grammar isn't exactly my forte (strength). Oh well...**

**Once again, I do not own Pokémon, which is copyrighted to Nintendo. I do however, own Eliade and Alicia. Once again, all of the Pokémon here, except for the golden-colored Lucario (a shiny), were based off the Pokémon I have in my Diamond and Platinum games. With nicknames and shininess and all.**

**Also, I recently found out that "Eliade" was mostly pronounced as (Ee-Lee-Ed). Whoops. Eh, whatever, I'm sticking to (Eh-Lie-Ed) for my character here. Because one, the pronunciation stuck; and two, I like the way I say it better.**

**Once again, this fanfic is only experimental. If I get enough reviews for this, I might continue it. So, feel free to spread the word about this, I guess.**

**Edit: Crud, I forgot to mention that Eliade is twenty-one here in this fanfic. As for Alicia, she's fifteen.**

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**Chapter Two**

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Warmth.

That word was all that was registered in the golden-colored Lucario's mind as he slowly began to regain consciousness. Seeing that he saw nothing but white, he instantly snapped his eyes open and sat up, feeling a little distorted at the sudden head rush.

"I see you're awake."

The Lucario jerked his head to his left and saw a blue and white Pokémon nearby, with him leaning back against the wall staring back at the Lucario.

He then looked at his surroundings, it was very clean, and could barely smell a scent that was similar to flowers. There was also another odd smell, but it probably had something to do with something that the humans have called "medicine." The Lucario then discovered that he was on a bed of some sort, whatever it was made out of, it was incredibly soft and comfortable. Looking at himself, the Lucario discovered that he had a strange long white cloth wrapped around his torso just below the spike on his chest, with another cloth of the same kind being bound around his left leg. Thankfully, it didn't restrict any of his movement.

"You okay?" the golden-colored Lucario turned and saw the blue and white Pokémon again.

The Pokémon was fairly tall. His upper body was blue, with his lower body being white. His white face made his orange eyes stand out quite well. There was also a strange orange appendage on his chest and back. A strange grayish-blue "fin" of some sort was on his head, and his arms looked like blades.

"What? Never a Pokémon like me before?" the blue and white Pokémon spoke as he noticed the Lucario tilting his head.

"Who are you, and... What is this place?..." the golden-colored Lucario looked around somewhat warily as he tried to get up.

"Whoa, hey," the blue and white Pokémon gently pushed him back down, "You really shouldn't move that much, that Flamethrower has given quite you a few burns."

"Answer my questions," the Lucario demanded as he reluctantly obeyed the odd-looking Pokémon's words.

"All right, all right," the blue and white Pokémon spoke as he raised his arms up in defense, "No need to be a hothead. Anyways..." he took a somewhat deep breath, "I'm a Gallade. And I know that you're a Lucario."

"What is my location?" the Lucario narrowed his eyes at the blue and white Gallade.

"This is a Pokémon Center," the Gallade spoke as he shrugged, "It's a human building that specializes in treating injured and sick Pokémon. Eliade took you here because you were injured, not to mention that those burns were ghastly. Ugh..." he shuddered, "It's a good thing that she had some of the leftover juice from those Rawst Berries, they can easily ease the pains from burns, and I speak from experience."

"Wait..." the Lucario tensed as he narrowed his eyes even more, "You mean to tell me..."

"Er..." the Gallade bit his lip, "Well... try to get too upset, but... You see... Eliade had to..."

"Telos?"

Both the Lucario and the Gallade turned their heads and saw the nearby door open, the Lucario then recognized the owner of the voice being the Miltank that was with Eliade earlier.

"Oh! Thank goodness, he's awake!" the Miltank clapped her hooves together.

"Beverly," the Gallade looked down at the Miltank, "Shouldn't you be with Beau the others? And what about the little Jackson?"

"I know, Telos," the Miltank, Beverly, spoke, "But I became worried about you and Lucario, so I came to check on you. As for Jackson, Beau is looking after him."

"I see," the blue and white Gallade, now known as Telos, said.

"What am I doing here?" the Lucario growled what sounded more like a comment than a question, causing the Gallade and Miltank to shudder a little.

"Well..." the Miltank, Beverly, reluctantly spoke, "You see... because Team Galactic, those odd humans in the gray and white suits... they almost got away with you, but... Eliade..."

"What did that human do?" the golden-colored Lucario narrowed his eyes at her.

"She... had to capture you with a Poké Ball to get you out of that mess..." she spoke, but instantly continued before the Lucario could make an outburst, "She really didn't want to capture you! She did it because you were injured and that you needed to get medical treatment! She's going to release you back in the Iron Island once you're all healed up!"

The Lucario then merely stared at the two Pokémon, slowly taking in the Miltank's words. Come to think of it, he could barely remember the voice that sounded like Eliade's...

_Please... Forgive me!_

He could easily read the desperate reluctance in the voice. Since Eliade had captured him, does this make him a mindless slave?

"Did she capture you all as well?" The Lucario barely murmured.

"Huh?" both the Gallade and the Miltank were confused at the Lucario's sudden change of attitude, but Beverly, the Miltank, spoke, "Well, I was passed down to Eliade after her mother passed away. I've been with her for years now."

"As for me," the blue and white Gallade, Telos, "I'm not under her wing, I'm with a Trainer named Alicia, who is a friend of Eliade's. You haven't seen her yet, but, overall, both of our Trainers are good humans to be around with," he smiled a little at the thought, "Even though I'm different from most of the others, my teammates treat me like a normal Gallade."

"'Different'?" the Lucario repeated, this time with slight confusion on his face, "What do you mean by that?"

"That's easy for me to explain, for you see..." he rubbed off something from his head, which the Lucario recognized as sparkles, "I'm just like you. Like you, I'm a shiny."

"Humans are greedy," the golden-colored Lucario narrowed his eyes at the Gallade, "Because of this... fur color I have, any human that has spotted me had tried to capture me for their own needs."

"But Eliade didn't," Beverly, the Miltank, spoke, "Even though she has captured you, she has no intention in forcing you to do anything. I must remind you, that Eliade was really distraught when she found that you were hurt so badly by that Houndour's Flamethrower. Please, don't take this personally, but she really does care about the safety of all Pokémon like us."

Before the Lucario could say something again, however, the door from earlier suddenly opened on its own.

It was Eliade.

The brown sugar-skinned human looked at the three Pokémon that were in the room before having a relieved look on her face.

"Thank goodness," she spoke softly as she quietly approached the Lucario in the bed, "You've woken up. You've been out since yesterday."

The Lucario narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't say anything.

She seemed to get the message, for she sighed, "I'm really sorry, Lucario. But I had to capture you in a Poké Ball in order to prevent Team Galactic from taking you. You don't need to worry anymore, though. I've managed to get those scums arrested, and the Pokémon that have gone missing are back on the island. Once you finish recovering from your burns, I'll release you back to Iron Island, where you belong."

The Lucario was at a loss. He expected her to be all... greedy and stuff. Why wasn't she?

"You must be hungry," Eliade gave out a small smile as she gently placed her hand on the Lucario's right shoulder, "I've finished making lunch not too long ago, if you want to come along, that's fine. Can you walk? And please, try not to push yourself too hard."

The Lucario didn't say anything as he slowly moved his legs off of the bed. Using Eliade's arms as support, he slowly managed to get himself on his feet.

"That's great," Eliade smiled, "You should be back in full health tomorrow. I'm glad that it wasn't serious."

The golden-colored Lucario still didn't say anything as he struggled to keep himself upright. He felt embarrassed, he kept making clumsy footsteps. But no one laughed at him, and Eliade was very patient, for she kept a gentle yet firm grip on his arms. He didn't even make a growl as Eliade, Beverly the Miltank, and Telos the shiny Gallade helped him slowly meet up with the other Pokémon. A few minutes after Eliade was gently guiding the Lucario to wherever they were going, they eventually reached a lobby of some sort. And discovered that there were a lot of humans here. The Lucario tensed.

"Don't worry, I won't let them harm you," he head Eliade whisper to him as she placed a hand on his back, "Besides, even if they _did_ try to capture you with a Poké Ball, it won't work since I've already captured you with mine."

Although he wasn't fully comforted by her words, the Lucario knew that she was telling the truth. At least, she was so far. He didn't have the time to think about it since they had just reached their destination.

"Eliade!"

The Lucario looked at the owner of the voice and saw another human girl, who looked a few years younger than Eliade. She had pale skin and was shorter than the fairly tall Eliade by a head, and her slightly curly purple hair barely reached down past her shoulders. She wore a black short-sleeved shirt over a white long-sleeved one, she also wore dark blue-black cargo pants. Covering her feet were black and silver shoes that looked fairly tattered which, as the Lucario had suggested to himself, were an old pair. Taking a brief glance at Eliade, he noticed that she wore red cargo pants and a black T-Shirt under a red hoodie with the zipper up halfway. She also wore red and black shoes that also looked old and worn.

"So is Lucario feeling better?" the other human looked at him, as did the group of Pokémon that were with her.

"Yes, Alicia. He's healing faster than I thought he would be," Eliade nodded as she gently released the Lucario from her grasp. Seeing as he was now able to stand on her own, she turned to the Miltank and Gallade, "Beverly, Telos. While I'm talking to Alicia about our plans of what to do after all of this, feel free to introduce Lucario to the others."

Both Beverly and Telos nodded as they slowly led the Lucario to their teammates, who were staring at them in turn.

The Lucario carefully studied the Pokémon that stay with Eliade and Alicia. He saw the Infernape, Koki, eating a bowl full of brown pellets that smelled like food while looking at the Lucario. Next to him was Louie the Lickilicky, who had already finished his bowl full of food. He recognized them, along with Beverly the Miltank, to be with Eliade. And he knew that Telos the shiny Gallade was with the other human named Alicia. However, he didn't recognize the other Pokémon, since they weren't with Eliade when he met her back on Iron Island. The first Pokémon he manage to identify was the pink and brown Gastrodon. She slowly moved her way towards the Lucario.

"This is Ashley," the Gallade, Telos, said as he nodded at her, "She's one of my teammates from Alicia's group."

"Hello," the Gastrodon, now known as Ashley, bowed her head slightly at the golden-colored Lucario, "It's nice to meet you."

". . ." he only managed to nod at her. Since he had barely spoken with any Pokémon since his exile from the pack of Aura Pokémon that live on the other side of the Iron Island, he had no idea how he should speak.

"No need to be shy," Beverly said kindly as Ashley cocked her head slightly, "Just say hello."

". . . Hello," he barely murmured.

The Gastrodon gave out her own version of a smile, "It's good to know that you're feeling better. I hope that you'll fully recover soon." Having said her introduction, the Gastrodon moved back to her spot in order to finish eating her portion of food.

"She's kind of slow, but she's really nice," Telos said, "She's not the fastest out of all of us in Alicia's team, but she's been able to take a beating. She specializes in Defenses, and I'll tell you, that _no_ _one_ has been able to take Ashley down in one hit. Because of this, she can be quite a formidable opponent."

". . .I see," the Lucario barely nodded while very slowly getting the hang of talking to other Pokémon. Telos then led him to a large dark brown bear that had a white ring on his belly, and he looked very gruff at that. There was also a scar over his right eye, which was always closed, signifying that the bear was blind in that eye.

"This is Dipper, he's the first Pokémon that Alicia came to train, not to mention that he's the oldest out of all of us in Alicia's team. Except for Beverly, she's the oldest out of all of us."

"Really, Telos," Beverly shook her head at him, "I still remember the time when you were just a wee young Ralts, playing around and using Psychic to play pranks on poor Dipper," she chuckled, "Like that time when you made that jar of honey pour down on him."

"Okay, let's not go off topic, here," Telos quickly spoke as the bear smirked, "And besides, I was little kid when I did that. Anyways..." he sighed a little, "But, yeah, Dipper's a good Ursaring."

Dipper, the Ursaring, only nodded as he lifted his paw up.

"Well, go on," Beverly gently nudged the Lucario, "Shake his paw."

The golden-colored Lucario did as he was told as he gently placed his paw on Dipper's.

"You were pretty heroic saving Beverly," the Ursaring finally spoke, "So thanks for that," he then made a small nod before going back to his meal of berries and honey.

The Lucario looked around again, this time to see if there were any Pokémon left for him to meet, not that he was eager to, but just to see how much more he had to endure it. For he was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. He then noticed a duo of Pokémon next to Alicia that caught his attention.

It was a female Lucario sitting on the floor, and a regular blue one at that. In front of her was a tiny blue Riolu that was playing with the female Lucario's right arm as if it were a toy. But the golden-colored Lucario then noticed something about his female counterpart.

She was _missing_ a left arm.

Only the metal ring around her left shoulder was remaining from where her left arm used to be. She seemed to have paid no mind, though, for she kept letting the baby Riolu play with her right arm. Instead of looking happy, though, she looked rather... neutral, yet somewhat continuously sad or something. As for the baby Riolu, he kept squeaking small and happy cries as he constantly tried to grab the female Lucario's arm. As the Riolu failed to make another full grab at her arm, it was then she took notice of the golden-colored Lucario's presence. She let her only arm hang down, letting the Riolu play around with it. She then stared at the golden-colored Lucario, but didn't seem to pay attention to anything else.

"This is Beau," Telos, the Gallade said as he tilted his head at her, "She rarely speaks, and she hardly ever interacts with anyone else other than Alicia."

"Don't go too hard on her, though," Beverly then spoke, "She's had... quite a rough life before she started staying with us. Even so, she's still a good soul."

The female Lucario, now known as Beau, only gave him a slight nod with her eyes gently closed before shifting her attention back to the baby Riolu.

"And _this_ little bundle..." Beverly smirked slightly as she pointed at the baby Riolu, who was still playing with Beau's arm, "...is Jackson. Remember the egg that was with us when we first met? This little guy hatched from it just this morning."

". . . Where are his parents?" the golden-colored Lucario barely spoke as Beau looked at him again for a moment before focusing her attention on the baby Riolu named Jackson.

"Apparently, that human known as 'Riley', who was the owner of that egg, had to go to some place," Telos shrugged, "From what I've heard, it wasn't the ideal place for a baby Pokémon to be raised in. And Riley wanted him to see a lot of things in the world around us, so he entrusted the Riolu into Eliade's care. Since she'll be keeping him under her wing, she named him Jackson."

The golden-colored Lucario only blinked as he looked at Beau. He had seen many Pokémon with scars, but he had never seen one missing a _limb_.

"If you're wondering what caused Beau to lose her left arm..." Beverly spoke rather hesitantly, "It's... a fairly sensitive topic, so we don't talk about it much. Or at all. It wasn't anyone's fault here, just so you know."

The Lucario only nodded in understanding, however, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the poor female Lucario that only had one arm. How long was she like this? Questions instantly formed in his mind, the Pokémon that were with Eliade and Alicia all seemed very happy into being with the two humans, but...

_**"HEY!"**_

Almost everyone in the group, including the two Trainers, jumped slightly. Except for Beau, who was now quietly comforting Jackson, the baby Riolu, because it started crying a little at the sound of the shrill voice. The golden-colored Lucario, however, tensed, for he knew that voice...

"What is _**MY**_ Lucario doing with _**you?**_" It was the human female that had tried to capture him two days before. And sure enough, a Houndoom was right next to her. It looked a little different from the one that he came across when she had those two men with her, so the golden-colored Lucario mentally guessed that this Houndoom was her own.

While Alicia was helping Beau to calm down Jackson, Eliade only blinked at her, "...Do I know you?"

"That's _my_ Lucario you have right there," the human female spoke.

Eliade only rose a brow, obviously no knowing this human, "...Wait, what?"

"The shiny Lucario," she growled at him, "That's _mine_."

Eliade turned her head and looked at the golden-colored Lucario, who was currently behind Telos and Dipper, who in turn glared at the foolish human. Eliade's brow furrowed as she turned back to the female human, "I find several loopholes in this. First of all, if he really is 'your' Lucario, then why is he afraid of you?"

She didn't say anything as some of the other Trainers in the Pokémon Center watched the scene.

"And second of all, if he really was 'your' Pokémon, then why is it that he was captured in _my_ Poké Ball?"

No response.

"In other words..." Eliade said, "You tried to capture him, but failed. However, I succeeded, so, he's actually _my_ Pokémon. Now if you'll excuse me, please leave us alone and let us be."

"Then battle me," the human female spoke, "If I win, I'm _taking_ that Lucario."

"Uh-oh," Koki, the Infernape, smirked, as did most of the other Pokémon, except for Beau and Jackson.

The golden-colored Lucario wondered why the Pokémon were like this until Dipper, the Ursaring, spoke, "That fool's just said some words in the way that Eliade does not like to hear."

Before the Lucario could question what Dipper meant by that, it was instantly answered.

"Listen, you!" Eliade snapped back at her with her finger, "I don't mind if it's just battling, but I am _**NOT**_ going to battle some spoiled little _brat_ for a Pokémon's sake! Not only is it against the rules of Pokémon battling, it's even more wrong of doing it against the Pokémon's will!" Eliade then pointed at the exit, "So you'd better get out of my sight now and leave! And if you _dare_ use that Houndoom of yours, I _will __**not**_ hesitate to fight back!"

Before the human girl that tried to capture the golden-colored Lucario could snap back, she was stopped by a familiar pink-haired woman wearing a white apron.

"I suggest you do as she says," the pink-haired woman said with a stern look on her face, "Since she has captured Lucario, he belongs to her. You must leave her alone. If you do not, then you will have to leave."

The human grunted a little before turning away rather abruptly and left the Pokémon Center with her Houndoom in tow. However, the Lucario could've sworn that he heard the words, "This isn't the last time you'll be seeing me..."

Eliade then turned to the pink-haired woman, "Thank you, Nurse Joy. You were a great help."

"It is my pleasure," the pink-haired lady, now known as Nurse Joy, made a small bow, "And thank you for preventing a scuffle."

With that said, Nurse Joy then went on to tell the other Pokémon Trainer that the scene was over and continued with other business. While Alicia was commenting to Eliade concerning her rare temper, the golden-colored Lucario just stared at her in astonishment. He never knew that Eliade had such a temper. Looking at the other Pokémon, he noticed that the others were looking either uncomfortable or amused. Once again, only the female Lucario's expression didn't change, but she did smile very slightly when she found that Jackson had calmed down and started playing with Beau's single arm again.

"Heh heh," the golden-colored Lucario turned towards the Infernape, "There went another one."

"Uh...?" the Lucario tilted his head, confused.

The Infernape, Koki, had noticed, "If you're wondering what caused Eliade to snap, you see, she hates it when other humans would do a battle for a Pokémon's sake."

The Lucario only blinked.

"Eliade always keeps her word when it comes down to Pokémon like us," the Lickilicky, Louie, said, "Because of this, she only takes in Pokémon that want to be with her."

"Louie," Koki turned to the said Pokémon, "You've already told him that back on Iron Island."

"I did?" Louie thought back for a moment before realizing, "Oh, wait, I did tell him that..."

Koki gave out a small sigh, "Sometimes, Louie, I really wish that you would try to remember things a bit more quickly..."

"Okay, you two, no arguing," Beverly broke up the conversation, "Everyone has their flaws, so let's not cause any meaningless trouble."

Neither Koki nor Louie said anything, it appeared to the Lucario that no one in the group would argue with Beverly. It also appeared to him that these Pokémon had known Beverly for a long time, which was understandable, remembering the fact that the Miltank was the oldest out of everyone according to Telos the shiny Gallade. Before the Lucario could question anything, Ashley, the pink and brown Gastrodon that the Lucario had somewhat forgotten about, pushed a bowl full of berries and brown pellets mixed in towards him. There were also some odd circular objects that looked like colored breads.

"This is the food dish that Eliade made for you," the Gastrodon said, "Trust me, they're really good, especially the Poffins."

Poffins? Was that what those odd looking things were called? The golden-colored Lucario didn't say anything, debating whether he should eat it or not, fearing that it might be poisoned. Others could call it paranoia, but the Lucario was thinking this from experience. When he had taken a piece of food from a human that tried to capture him one time, it ended up being drugged by some kind of sleeping draught. The Lucario shuddered at the memory slightly, he had barely managed to get away by trekking up the mountains to where even that foolish couldn't get to. He couldn't remember anything else because he had fallen asleep afterwards. Although the food that was on the bowl beared no resemblance to the drugged food he had eaten (he could barely remember what it was, anyway), he still had his doubts.

To the Lucario's amazement, the female Gastrodon, Ashley, seemed to have read his mind, "All right, then."

She gently reached her head down and grabbed one of the colored Poffins with her mouth (mainly due to her lack of arms) and swallowed it. Part of the golden-colored Lucario expected her to have foam coming out of her mouth or something, but she looked as healthy as ever. Finally convinced that the food wasn't poisonous, the Lucario slowly extended a paw and gently grabbed one of the colored Poffins as Ashley moved out of the way. Although a bit nervous, since a human had made it, he slowly took a bite out of the yellow-colored Poffin. Merely seconds later, he found himself more hungry than he thought he was, for he had started to eat everything else in the bowl as well.

"Wow," the shiny Gallade, Telos, blinked, "You weren't kidding when you told me about the time when Eliade gave him a Sitrus Berry."

"I know," the Miltank, Beverly nodded a little, "The poor thing most likely didn't have enough to eat on that island."

The Miltank was right, because on Iron Island, the golden-colored Lucario would often have an excruciatingly hard time finding food ever since he was exiled from the pack that was hidden on Iron Island. He ended up developing a dislike for that pack. One, they didn't accept him much even after he had hatched from his own egg; two, he never knew his parents, nor would anyone allow him to meet, much less find them; and three, most likely, he almost led the humans towards the pack since the said humans were greedy to capture the shiny Pokémon he is. The fact that he was a Lucario was one thing, for Lucarios are very rare to come across in the wild, the fact that he was a "shiny" (or so the humans call it) made him even more "rare" in the humans' case. Still, the golden-colored Lucario would find hard to believe that out of all the humans to have actually captured him (though Eliade was the only one who ever did it successfully with a Poké Ball), he could hardly believe that he had encountered one (two if he were to count Alicia) who showed no signs of greediness.

While the golden-colored Lucario was eating some of the brown pellets (it tasted like grains, which he liked), he glanced at the Gallade, Telos. The golden-colored Lucario had already realized that he was also a "shiny" Pokémon because Telos himself had told him. Because of this, he mentally guessed that Telos was probably the "rarest" Pokémon that both Eliade and Alicia have. To the golden-colored Lucario's surprise, though, the Gallade showed no signs of resentment of being around his Trainer, Alicia. He then wondered what caused Telos to encounter her in the first place. Then again, he wondered about that for everyone around here. He remembered that Beverly was passed down to Eliade from her mother, and that Louie was with her since birth, but what about the others? Did they all really join these two humans by their own free will?

"So, Eliade," Alicia's words caught the golden-colored attention, he turned to her and saw the purple-haired human gently rubbing Beau's head, "Are you planning on battling the Canalave City Gym Leader?"

"You mean Byron?" Eliade said after she took a sip some kind of liquid from a can, "Well, yeah, I was going to. But since we have Lucario here, I'd thought I'd wait until he's recovered from his burns before my team goes up against his."

"That's not a bad plan," Alicia spoke as she then started to groom her female, one-armed Lucario with a small brush she took out from her backpack, "However, I've heard that he was going to close the Gym for a while tomorrow."

"Oh?" This seemed to catch the other Pokémon's attention as they all listened intently. As for Beau, she only sat still with an ear tilted while Alicia was grooming her back fur. Meanwhile, Jackson was now curled up in Beau's lap, watching Eliade.

"I don't know the reasons," Alicia spoke again, "But if you were going to get the Gym Badge from him, I think it'd be best if you were to do it today. Not to mention that we have to call Mister Tony once we get to Jubilife City within a week or two, and we don't know how long the Gym here will be closed."

"I see..." Eliade nodded for a bit before thinking out loud to herself, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to do it today... We'll have to take Lucario with us, though... In order to prevent some idiotic fool from trying to steal him..." She then nodded again before turning to the other Pokémon with a determined look on her face, "Okay, guys! We're going to prepare ourselves for our sixth Gym Battle. We've already done our training yesterday, so let's give it all we've got!"

All of the Pokémon, except for the golden-colored Lucario and Beau, nodded with slightly excited looks on their faces. As for Jackson, he only stared at everyone, not knowing what was going on. However, he didn't cry because he knew that everyone was in a good mood.

The golden-colored Lucario then finished eating everything in his bowl as he stared at Beau. He didn't know what a "Gym Battle" is, but it got everyone else pumped up, so why wasn't Beau? Then again, ever since he first saw her, she was acting fairly... absent-minded, quiet, solemn, and... more like...

Like a _doll_.

Before the golden-colored Lucario could question this however, Eliade suddenly said something about having good luck to the group before the other Pokémon stood up. Eliade then gently picked up Jackson the Riolu from Beau's lap before cradling him in her arms. Beau didn't make any protest, much less a single sound as Jackson was then playing with Eliade's hair by batting some of the stray locks with his paws. Alicia, who then noticed that Beau hasn't moved at all, gently hugged her one-armed Lucario.

"Come on, Beau," Alicia said gently with an encouraging smile on her face, "Let's go."

The female one-armed Lucario only nodded as she slowly stood up on her own.

Having noticed that everyone had finished eating the food from their bowls, Eliade handed Jackson back to Beau before. She then picked up the bowls, and with Koki's help, placed them in a bin of some sort before giving them to the pink-haired woman, Nurse Joy. The human Trainer in red then approached the golden-colored Lucario and kneeled down to his height. He flinched slightly when Eliade gently placed a hand on his shoulder. It wasn't harmful, but it still felt like an electric shock in a way.

"I know you probably don't like being around humans, but I still want to help you," Eliade said with a smile on her face, though her brows showed that she looked a little sad, "I'm taking my friends to a place outside of the Pokémon Center called a Pokémon Gym. If you come along, I'll make sure that no one will try to take you away, okay?"

The Lucario slowly considered it before realizing that she only wanted to help him. He glanced at the one-armed female Lucario, Beau, who only had her head against Alicia's arm while the human was gently scratching the Aura Pokémon's ears. She still had no change of expression, but didn't protest at the touch. Whatever she went through must've been hard on her. He then glanced at the others, who were busy remembering their way of strategies. They, especially the Gallade, Telos, seemed content. The golden-colored Lucario considered it again. It probably wouldn't hurt...

He then found himself nodding.

Eliade smiled again, her face back to it's cheerful self, "I'm glad you trust me, even if it's not much."

The golden-colored Lucario only blinked at her words.

She then nodded, "I've been thinking about it. Even though you won't be staying with us for long, I still want to give you a name like I do for all the Pokémon I take under my wing," she tilted her head a little, "Is that all right?"

He blinked at her again.

"The reason I'm telling you this is because I normally do not like calling a Pokémon by their species," she explained, "Mostly because for the past ten years, I have been raising some Pokémon of the same species. Right now the biggest example is Jackson and Beau," she turned her head towards Alicia with the two Aura Pokémon before turning back to him, "Since Jackson will evolve into a Lucario when he gets older, and the fact that we have Beau, Alicia and I call them by the names we give them. It's especially helpful when there are times when our Pokémon get mixed up with someone else's."

He nodded slightly at her words, finally understanding why she names her Pokémon. It was to give them a sense of identity...

"So is it all right that I give you a name, at least?"

Having a sense of identity... doesn't sound so bad. For the first time, he actually felt that he really could trust this human. After everything she has done for him, it wouldn't hurt to give this human a chance... He nodded only once.

"Okay, then!" Eliade now had a wide grin on her face as she gently placed a finger on the Lucario's forehead, "From here on out, you are now Eldin!"

* * *

**If you're wondering where I got the name "Eldin," it's from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I've never played the game, but I've come across the name "Eldin" while playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl. You see, one of the stages you can choose to fight on is called the "Bridge of Eldin." Since I'm a complete nut for unique names, I decided to use it.**

**And while we're at it, I might as well just humor you with these details for now...**

**You may think that "Beau" (pronounced as "boh") is a masculine name, which is true, it is also an uncommon name for girls. In my Diamond game, she was a Riolu that I got from a trade (with the nickname "Beau" included) from a former friend who I don't get to see much anymore. As for here in this fanfic, Beau has different origins. You see, I don't make my Pokémon's game backgrounds stay as consistent, since I like to make up my own stories for them. There is also a reason why Beau only has one arm (she only has her right arm), and why she is so quiet, but once again, I'm not saying (or typing) anything.**

**Although Eliade has obtained Jackson as the baby Riolu that hatches from the egg given to you by Riley here in this fanfic, in my Diamond game, I obtained him as an egg through the Day Care Center. I gave him the name "Jackson" because Riolu, along with it's evolved form, Lucario, resemble jackals, which they are based from.**

**Dipper the Ursaring's name was derived from the star constellation, the Big Dipper. There was a constellation called the "Ursa Major," (which means _The Great Bear_ in Latin) that is dominated by the Big Dipper. For everything else, just look up the Big Dipper on Wikipedia or something.**

**Telos (pronounced as "Tell-los," similar to "Zelos") the shiny Gallade was derived from a Japanese Music album of some sort that I came across on the Internet (the Net for short). The only English word I found on it was "Telos," and the word "blades" instantly came to mind. And yes, I do have a shiny Gallade named Telos in my Diamond game.**

**Beverly's name was derived from something completely random. While I was watching some videos of the Harvest Moon series (a popular farming simulation series) on YouTube, I remembered that one of my neighbors who used to play it, named his first cow (a female) Beverly. Since Miltanks were obviously based off from cows... yeah. I don't play the Harvest Moon series that much, but it is fun to watch the videos and cutscenes in those games.**

**The names for Ashley the Gastrodon, Koki the Infernape, and Louie the Lickilicky were names I came up with at random. Their names have no actual meaning, they just stuck when I mentally suggested them**

**And if you're wondering why Alicia has purple hair, like Eliade, Alicia was also a Trainer I created in Pokémon Battle Revolution, a Cool Girl A wearing a black and silver outfit. Plus, there are numerous characters with a huge variety of hair colors. Remember Cheryl and Mira from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum? They have green and pink hair respectively, so I'm just going to follow both the anime and game logic when it comes down to hair colors.. **

**Once again, I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes. And if you find this fanfic confusing, sorry. I tend to write things that seem to only make sense to me than to others. Still, if you like this fanfic, please leave a review.**


	3. Doubt

**You guys are evil, some good reviews and a few with some constructive criticism? I love you, guys. And now, some responses to some of the reviews here.**

**_C-est un Monde Merveilleux:_ If you're wondering which game this fanfic takes place in, it would be all three versions of Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. However, since Platinum has a more developed storyline, and the fact that in Platinum I chose a Chimchar for a starter and named it Koki... I guess this takes place in Platinum? And just so you know, you really can't find a wild Lucario on Iron Island. You can, however, find a wild Riolu in the Johto Safari Zone once you get the National Dex in HeartGold and SoulSilver, even though they're hard to come across.**

**_Chaos Githzerai:_ Looking back at it now, I think I did use too many parenthesis. Then again, I was never exactly taught of how to use them correctly, I just kinda thought that having too many commas in one sentence would be awkward or something. As for the (much) mentioning of Eldin's coloring, that was to prevent _me_ from getting confused. Since there was more than one Lucario mentioned here, sometimes even I would confused as to who is who. However, this won't be much of a big deal anymore. Now that Eldin has obtained his name, he won't be referred to as the "golden-colored Lucario" as much. Still, thanks for the constructive criticism, I appreciate it.**

**Believe it or not, I'm not actually a big fan of the Zelda series, but I do like playing _The Legend of Zelda_, _Zelda II: The Adventure of Link_, _Ocarina of Time_, and _Majora's Mask_ occasionally. I don't have _Twilight Princess_, so I don't know that many details from the game other than some of the unique names. I would have played it on the Wii, but I'm left-handed, like Link originally is, so... yeah, big dilemma there. Dang it Nintendo, why couldn't you release a left-handed edition for the Wii? That would've been nice for us Lefties...**

**_Y-ko:_ For some reason, I find your "harsh" review humorous. Yes, I'm pretty sure that no one cares about Eliade's skin color being compared to the ingredient brown sugar in terms of color, but hey, there are people out there that are visual, myself being the best example. If they don't know what Eliade looks like color-wise from clothes to skin, then how would any other reader visualize her as? Not to mention I give out pronunciation keys _before_ the chapter even _starts_. Since I use unique names, which I like, sometimes they can be hard to pronounce, so I provide the readers of how to say them. If they don't know how the names are pronounced, then what's the point of trying to say and/or read them?**

**As for the "Furry" thing... Eh, I really don't care much of that genre/culture/potato/whatever it's classified as here. I don't even need those animal ears and/or tails like some (if not most) people do, I look ridiculous even without them. Plus, there's also this simple rule: If you don't like my fanfic, then don't read it. I won't stop you from having your own opinion, but there was basically no need to pull an immature hissy fit here. After all, YOU CAN'T SATISFY EVERYONE. All of that aside, thanks for reading, anyway.**

**Those responses aside, apparently you readers are interested mainly in Beau's origins, was it because of her missing arm or the fact that she's silent? Eh, no matter, you guys might learn of her origins someday. That is, if I feel that this fanfic is getting enough interest. Once again, thanks for reviewing and placing "Eldin" into your Alerts/Favorites or just simply read this fanfic. And now, for Chapter Three.**

**

* * *

Chapter Three**

* * *

The golden-colored Lucario only blinked when Eliade gently touched his forehead while giving him the name.

"From here on out, you are now Eldin!"

He blinked again at Eliade's words. Eldin. That name didn't so that bad. In fact, he actually took a liking to it.

"It's a unique name I've come up with," Eliade then said as she scratched her cheek with a slightly embarrassed look on her face, "Since you're also unique in a way, I'd thought I'd use that name. Well, then again..." she then had a thinking look on her face, "I think all Pokémon are unique, but..." she then shrugged, "Eh, doesn't matter. The thing is, I just like the name 'Eldin.' Is it all right for me to call you that?"

The Lucario considered it before remembering that he had no sense of identity even before he was exiled from the pack he used to live in. Since all of the other Pokémon that were with Eliade and Alicia had a name, it wouldn't hurt to have one as well.

He found himself nodding again.

Eliade smiled again, "Okay, Eldin. Are you ready to head on to the Gym? I won't make you battle, of course."

He nodded a little again as he blinked, still a bit surprised at the human's words.

She held out her hand, "I will keep my promise. Once you heal, I'll let you go."

The golden-colored Lucario, who was now known as Eldin, closed his eyes to get a brief look at Eliade's aura signature. Again, there was that aura that continuously flared about. He couldn't tell what she was thinking for some reason, but he could tell through his own instincts that she could be trusted. He wouldn't trust her completely, but he was still willing to give her a chance. He gently placed his paw on her hand.

Eliade, who smiled again, nodded, "I'm glad," she then turned her back towards the Lucario while saying something to Alicia.

The younger purple-haired human smiled, "So you've given him a name? That's great!" she then came to the golden-colored Lucario and gently placed a hand on his head, "It's really nice to meet you, Eldin."

Eldin... that's what he is called now. But strangely... he didn't mind.

Alicia then turned to Eliade, "Are you planning on letting the Pokémon stay out of their Poké Balls on our way to the Gym?"

"Yes," Eliade nodded, "Especially since everyone's all hyped up. They'll just pop out of their Poké Balls even I _do_ recall them."

"Good point," Alicia said with a humored smile.

All of the Pokémon except for Beau snickered at this, which caused Eldin, the golden-colored Lucario, to wonder why Beau hasn't showed any emotion at all. While it was true that she will respond to Alicia, what else will she respond to? All of a sudden Jackson started squirming around in Beau's arm, causing her to gently nudge her head against Eliade's arm.

"Hm?" Eliade responded and looked at Jackson, "Oh, he's hungry again. Just a sec..." the young woman then placed a hand into her bag and took out two small bottles, one of them full of a white concoction with the other having an oddly-shaped lid, which resembled a pacifier, on it, "Alicia, I'm going to heat up the milk for a bit. Can you keep Jackson entertained in the meantime?"

"Sure, thing," Alicia nodded, "And don't worry, Beverly and Beau will help, too. Right, guys?"

The Miltank, Beverly, gave out a happy sound that sounded similar to "You got it!" As for Beau, she only nodded slowly before shifting her attention towards Jackson, who was clinging onto Beau's torso with her only arm as support. Her eyes narrowed very slightly, but it wasn't in anger. It looked more like sadness in Eldin's eyes, but he wasn't completely sure. The fact that all of the other Pokémon were content into being with the two humans convinced him that they could be trusted, but the way Beau acted said otherwise. Then again, he remembered that, according to Telos, she rarely interacts with anyone other than her Trainer, Alicia. However, he had never actually heard her speak. He couldn't consider it a bad thing, though, since Beau looked really healthy and well fed. Eldin also noticed that she would shift her attention at something for barely a moment before focusing onto something else.

All of a sudden Beau shifted her attention to him, causing Eldin to blink while flinching slightly. He saw her carefully studying him for a moment, and then shifted her attention back to the baby Jackson, who was whimpering a little in hunger. Beau, while not showing her emotions, gently nudged her head against the baby Riolu's. Since she had her only arm carrying Jackson, she had to use her head in order to do anything else. Before Eldin could say something, Eliade suddenly came back with the bottle with the odd top full of the white liquid.

"Thanks, Beau," Eliade gently scratched the side of Beau's head before gently taking Jackson from her hold, "I'll take it from here."

Beau didn't say anything as she only nodded.

Eliade took notice of Beau's quiet behavior, but didn't say anything; however, her face read concern. Shifting her attention to Jackson, she then spoke in a small baby-like tone, "Okay, you widdle Jackson, you. Here's comes the Moo Moo!" The baby Riolu, Jackson, instantly took the bottle into his mouth and started drinking the white contents. Eliade giggled, as she would gently pull the bottle away before giving it back to him occasionally, "Careful, Jackson. Small amounts at a time."

While everyone was watching Eliade feed Jackson with the Moomoo Milk, Eldin took notice of the other Pokémon either smiling or smirking at the scene.

"Looks like we'll be seeing Eliade like this for a while," Koki, the Infernape, commented, "We haven't had a baby in the group for quite some time."

The other Pokémon were then talking about random things, such as like how Jackson should be raised and played with or something. Still, Eldin wasn't expecting the fact that the Pokémon here, despite being completely different species, were basically one big, happy, if not slightly dysfunctional, family. Once again, however, the female, one-armed Lucario looked as if she had no part in it. Not that she was neglected or anything, since Alicia was giving her most of her attention, but it looked like Beau _chose_ not to part of the group. However, Eldin was no mind reader, so he had no idea.

"All right, he's all done," Eliade's voice broke Eldin from his musings as he saw the human putting the bottle away into her bag. She then handed the baby Riolu to Beverly, mainly after seeing Beau having already walked near the exit of the Pokémon Center, "Give him some motherly love, Beverly. We'll leave for the Gym in a bit."

Beverly only nodded as she held Jackson, who was now giving out happy squeaks. Eldin had a small smile curl at the edge of his lips, that Riolu child is a lucky one. Instead of being born to someone who would only accept those similar to him or her, Jackson was born under those who are diverse in appearance; mainly, Eliade's group. Here, no Pokémon looked exactly alike.

All of a sudden Eliade's voice rang out again, "Okay, everyone! Who's ready?"

"We are!" All of the other Pokémon said in their respective tongues. Once again, except for Eldin and Beau, with the latter only staring at the cheering group.

"I might not be battling in there," Telos, the shiny Gallade spoke, "But I just want to see what happens! The Gym Battles are always the best!"

"I know," Koki nodded in agreement, "They always tend to be intense. It's always thrilling to see such awesome strategies used in those Gym Battles. I wonder who the opponents are this time?"

"Well, we'll find out when we get there," the pink and brown Gastrodon, Ashley, said.

"Okay then!" Eliade then said after the Pokémon calmed down, "Let's get going!" However, just before she was about to head to the exit, she approached Eldin with a hand out towards him, "Ready?"

The golden-colored Lucario, Eldin, only nodded once as he let his paw touch her hand. He didn't trust her completely, but he was willing to give this human a chance.

"I'm glad," Eliade nodded, gently squeezing his paw before releasing it. She then turned to her friend, "Ready to go, Alicia?"

"Yup!" Alicia nodded, "So are Telos and the others."

Eliade then nodded as she and Alicia led the Pokémon out of the Pokémon Center. While Eliade was keeping close to Eldin, he noticed that a few humans were staring at him already. But since Eliade was around, he didn't feel as paranoid. Glancing at Beau, she only followed wherever Alicia's footsteps went. Eldin then noticed that all of the Pokémon were still out of their Poké Balls before remembering Eliade's saying that they would just pop out of the Poké Balls even if she does recall them.

The sight around Canalave City was fairly... surprising. For one, Eldin had never left Iron Island, so each and every step is new to him; two, he was amazed at how all of the humans around only just moved about doing their usual activities. Sure, some of them had stopped and stared at the Lucario, but none of the humans had shown any signs of greed. Leaving that topic aside, Eldin, who remained close to Eliade, walked over that brown, odd-looking bridge that was built over a boat canal of some sort. Eventually, after passing many buildings that the humans have built, they all came across one building that stood out. The building they were standing in front of was made out of stone from the outside.

"Well, here's the Gym," Eliade murmured, "I wonder if Byron's still here?" She then looked deep into thought, "I hope he hasn't closed the Gym, yet..."

"Well, what are we waiting for, Eliade?" Alicia said as she started her way towards the entrance with her Pokémon (composed of Telos, Ashley, Dipper, and Beau) following, "We won't know until we look inside."

"Yeah, you're right," the young woman in red smiled a little as she led her group of Pokémon (composed of Koki, Louie, Beverly, and Jackson), along with Eldin beside her, into the Gym.

The interior of the Gym was much different in appearance than it was on the outside. While the outside had large pieces of rocks covering it, the interior showed hallways made of steel with a blue coating on them. Eldin looked around and saw many displays of oddly shaped rocks with what seemed be pictures printed or embedded on them. One of those odd rocks had a strange spiked spiral shell...

"Hey, look!" Alicia then went over the one with the odd spiked shell, "It's an Omastar fossil!"

"Oh?" Eliade then looked at the same rock, "Hey, you're right. That's pretty cool," she then read the sign next to it, "Huh, it looks like this Pokémon lived about four thousand years ago."

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Alicia continued to marvel at the sight of the rock, now known to Eldin as a "fossil."

"Yeah, it is, but this isn't what we're here for," Eliade said, "Let's just see if we can find the Gym Leader before he plans on closing down the Gym for who knows how long."

Alicia had a slightly annoyed look on her face before sighing a little, "All right."

While Eliade and Alicia were leading their Pokémon friends to wherever they were going, Eldin studied them closely. Telos and Koki looked fairly excited, Ashley and Dipper looked normal, Louie was being Louie, and Beverly was still holding Jackson in a motherly manner. As for Beau, she only followed Alicia's footsteps without much of a sound, causing Eldin to wonder what caused her to be like that. Not that he was going to find out, since he'll most likely be leaving these humans and their Pokémon tomorrow, anyway.

All of a sudden, Beau's ears twitched.

"Did you hear something, Beau?" Alicia asked her Lucario, apparently knowing her Aura Pokémon's habits.

Beau only nodded as she raised her only arm and pointed to a hallway on the right.

"You hear voices?" Alicia nodded, somehow able to understand her.

She only nodded.

"Maybe it's the Gym Leader?" Eliade suggested with a small shrug before gently rubbing Beau's head, "You've got good ears, girl."

Beau, being the silent Lucario she is, only nodded a little.

Eliade gave out a small smile, "Come on."

After another turn in the hallways, everyone, including Eldin, heard voices from three people.

_"...ght here... app...im...ely..."_

_"...hat ...ere... hard fo... ...mans to... ...ek?"_

_"In...d ...ough... ...rio ...ange... ings..."_

All of the Pokémon raised a brow, except for Beau, who only tilted her head slightly, at the sound of the voices.

"Eliade," Alicia turned to the said person, "Doesn't one of those voices sound familiar?"

"It does," Eliade then had a thoughtful look on her face, "But another one of them sounds familiar, as well," she then let out a small breath, "Well, we won't know who they are until we see."

Although Eldin had no idea who two of the three voices were, he could've sworn that he heard the third voice from somewhere...

As soon as they entered the room, which turned out to be a battlefield made of rock, also led to the source of the three voices, Eldin looked at the three human men there. The first human he recognized immediately was the human man in blue, Riley; next to him was his Lucario.

The second human Eldin was barely able to recognize was the man who, despite having a fairly muscular build, was significantly older than the other two humans. His short and shaggy dark purple-mahogany hair stood out, along with a thin chin curtain beard that could be seen on his face. The older man wore a white sleeveless athletic shirt with gray cargo pants that was fairly shaggy hear his feet, he also had a dark brown cape that was also fairly shaggy at his feet, probably from so much use. He continuously carried a shovel in one of his hands. Eldin then remembered where he saw this man. He barely remembered that during his first few days in exile, the older man would walk around the island digging for something. Eldin also remembered that the man would become ecstatic whenever he finds certain rocks... maybe it was those things called "fossils?"

The third human, whom Eldin didn't recognize at all, looked like he was the youngest among the three. He wore a gray suit with a few yellow trimmings with a black shirt and a pair of black boots. A red helmet was on his head, and on the front part of it was a small circular gray thing. In short, he was perfectly dressed to do work in coal mines. He also had a pair of half-rim eyeglasses on his face. His cordovan-colored hair could also be seen from behind.

While the three men were discussing about something, it seemed that Eliade recognized one of the humans beside the man in blue, Riley.

"Hey, Roark! Riley!" Eliade suddenly called as she as the other approached them, causing the three men to stop talking as they turned towards her, "What's up?"

"Oh, Eliade," the man in gray spoke with a nod, "You're looking well."

"Ah, Eliade," the man in blue, Riley, nodded as he faced Eldin, "I see out little Lucario friend is doing better."

"Wait, Riley, Roark," the main with the shovel, spoke, "You know this young lady?"

"Of course," Riley shrugged, "It was because of her that I was able to find the Pokémon that have gone missing from Iron Island."

"And I've fought against her in a Gym Battle one time," the man in gray, now identified as Roark, spoke before looking a little embarrassed, "Of course, I've lost, so she earned her first Gym Badge from me."

"First Gym Badge from Sinnoh, you mean," Eliade spoke with a smirk, "If it will make you feel better, the Coal Badge was my _twenty_-_fifth_."

"Wait, seriously?" Roark had his eyebrows raised.

"You got it," Eliade said before turning, "Anyways, Riley, I thought you said that you were heading somewhere? You said that it wasn't an ideal place for a baby Pokémon like Jackson to be raised in."

"Actually, I _was_," Riley nodded before shrugging his hand to the two Gym Leaders, "However, Byron here decided to go on an expedition on Iron Island with his son tomorrow. Since I know most of the layout, they've asked me to come with them."

"So that's why this Gym was going to closed for a while," Alicia commented, "What kind of expedition are you doing?"

"We'll be heading there to dig for fossils," Roark answered, "Since numerous have been found there before."

"A fossil expedition?" Alicia then became excited, "I've always wanted to take part in one!" she then turned to Eliade, "Come on, Eliade, can we go with them? _Please?_"

Eldin blinked at Alicia's excited frame. Judging from what he had seen back at that "Omastar Fossil," Alicia must be a fan of those things. Glancing at the other Pokémon, they didn't seem surprised at this. Eldin then assumed that the Pokémon have seen Alicia like this before.

"You should be asking them, not me," Eliade said as she gently pointed at the three men with her finger, though she did look amused.

"Ah, so you like fossils as well?" Byron asked as he looked down at the younger girl.

"Uh-huh!" Alicia nodded eagerly before crouching down to rummage through her backpack, "I even have my first fossil with me!" She then held out a small rock covered in a cloth, "Take a look!"

Byron, who seemed to be an expert on these "fossils," gently took the small rock. He then took out a magnifying glass in order to examine the fossil a little more closely. While the older man was doing this, Roark and Riley were looking from his shoulders to get a closer look at the fossil.

"Well, I'll be!" Byron grinned, "This is an Aerodactyl tooth!"

"You're right!" Roark's eyebrows raised, "They're even more hard to come across than the skin samples that could be found in old amber."

"A very rare find, indeed," Riley commented as he gently gripped the rim of his hat.

"I know, it's cool, isn't it?" Alicia said, still in her excited form, "So is it all right if I go with you? _Please?_"

"Well..." Roark gave out a slightly nervous yet humored smile, "I don't see why not."

"Guhahahaha! I wouldn't mind at all!" Byron laughed as he gave Alicia's fossil back to her, "The more fossil fans out there, the better!"

"Yay!" Alicia cheered and clapped her hands together.

Eldin only blinked and rose a brow at Alicia's actions, obviously not knowing the majority of whatever the humans were talking about. He looked at Beverly, who only gave the gesture that she'll be explaining everything later. Eldin then tried to piece things together. First, he found that those certain rocks were the fossilized remains of Pokémon that had lived long ago, according to the random chatting between the humans. Second, Alicia was a fan of those fossils, and even has one of her own. Third, there are these two humans, Roark and Byron, who are also fans of fossils. Since those five humans were going to Iron Island tomorrow, that would give Eliade the perfect chance to release him back there.

Speaking of being released, Eldin was beginning to have some doubts. It wasn't about his assumption that Eliade might break her promise, which he had long discarded, but the fact of what he might come across once he is released. He'll be chased by greedy humans again, he won't have a place to live in. Sure, he might be able to live in that small cave located up high in one of those mountains, which he used to take shelter in from rain or from humans that have tried to capture him occasionally, but it wasn't suited for everyday needs. Eldin sighed inwardly, he really did want to go back to the pack of Aura Pokémon that live on the island, but since he was exiled because he almost led humans there one time...

He then thought of something. What if...?

Eldin then realized that someone was watching him, turning his head slightly, he then found that Riley's Lucario was staring at him. Eldin gulped slightly, he hadn't spoken to someone of his own kind since his exile. Beau, the female, one-armed Lucario, didn't count since she had said nothing throughout the while time Eldin was around. If Riley's Lucario were to try to speak with him...

"I hope you don't mind me asking, Alicia," Riley's words caught Eldin's attention, "About your Lucario, she looks really well trained."

"Beau?" Alicia briefly turned to her Aura Pokémon before turning back to Riley, "Well, she _is_ my strongest Pokémon despite her... handicap."

"Then perhaps a battle?" Riley suggested, catching his Lucario's attention, "To demonstrate her abilities."

"Um..." Alicia looked a little hesitant as she looked at Beau before turning her head to Eliade, who bit her lip a little. Eldin could easily detect the tension going on here. Whatever it was involving Beau, it always had something to do with her missing left arm, or at least it looked like it. Alicia then gently placed a hand on the side of Beau's head to make her look up at her Trainer. Alicia then gently said, "I think we should, you've haven't battled for quite a while. Not to mention it's worth the experience, since you've never gone up against a fellow Lucario like yourself. What do you think, Beau?"

No one said a word as Beau remained silent for a moment, but nodded nonetheless. The three men, especially Riley and his Lucario, took notice of her quiet behavior, but said nothing. It was then Eldin remembered that the room they were in was the Gym's battlefield.

"Okay, Riley, we'll do it!" Alicia said with a fist raised and a zealous look on her face, "But don't expect us to go easy on you!"

"Very well," Riley nodded with a tip of his hat before turning to Byron, "Shall we?"

"This will be interesting," Byron commented before leading everyone else to the bleachers, which were located on the side of the battlefield.

Eliade, who seemed to know the most about this, merely placed her hand on Eldin's shoulder to guide him and the other Pokémon within her group to follow Byron. As for Alicia, she and her Pokémon simply went to one side of the battlefield while Riley and his Lucario went to the other.

"I'll be the referee," Byron said as he went to the referee stand that was near the bleachers.

While Eliade and her Pokémon were sitting on the bleachers, Eldin kept close to Eliade's left-hand side, since he felt that was more safe with her. Looking at Eliade's other Pokémon, he noticed that Beverly the Miltank was next to him with Jackson the Riolu in her arms, Koki the Infernape was next to her, and finally, Louie the Lickilicky was last in line.

"So, Eliade," Roark said as he sat down next to her right-hand side, "I don't mean to sound intrusive or anything, but... What was with the tension involving Alicia's Lucario?"

"Er..." Eliade hesitated, "It's... a _really_ sensitive topic," she said with a clearly nervous look on her face, "There was an... 'accident'... that involved Beau. It wasn't anyone's fault, but..." Eliade then shook her head, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Uh, whoa..." Roark's eyes widened, "That bad, huh?"

"_Very_," she emphasized, before shuddering, "I still get the shudders from thinking about it."

"Oh..." Roark bit his lip, "Sorry that I asked."

"Don't worry about it," Eliade waved her hand in a dismissive manner, "It's fine, just forget about it."

Eldin rose a brow, a little shocked at what Eliade had said. Whatever the "accident" was, could it have been the cause of the loss of Beau's left arm? Or something else?

"This is a battle between Riley and Alicia!" Byron's voice caused everyone else to focus their attention to the battlefield, "Only one Pokémon from each Trainer is allowed! This battle will end unless one recalls their Pokémon or is knocked out!"

Riley only spoke to his partner next to him, "Lucario."

Riley's Lucario did not need telling twice as the Aura Pokémon jumped from where he was and onto the battlefield.

"Beau," Alicia gently rubbed the side of her Pokémon's head, "You be careful."

Beau only nodded as she simply walked over to her position on the battlefield.

"This will be interesting," Eldin turned as he heard Koki's comment, "We've haven't seen Beau battle for quite a while," the Infernape turned to the Miltank, "How long was it? Five days? A week, or...?"

"I think it was about ten days," Beverly guessed as Jackson paid his attention towards the upcoming battle, "I normally don't keep track on those kinds of things."

Eldin couldn't help but wonder why Beau rarely participates in battles, but since he had never seen her do much of anything except caring for Jackson, he knew that seeing the way Beau battles would be quite interesting.

"**Let the battle begin!**" Byron yelled out as he lifted his arm (the one holding the shovel) to signal the start of the match.

"Lucario!" Riley commanded as he pointed at Beau, "Use Aura Sphere!"

The Aura Pokémon under Riley's wing placed his paws closely together as a blue glowing sphere quickly formed between them before hurling it towards the one-armed female. Strangely, Beau made no attempt to dodge, and Alicia didn't make any command into doing so. However, just as the Aura Sphere came closing in...

"Ice Punch on the ball!" Alicia called out.

"Wha...?"

A look of confusion was on Riley's face as Beau's only paw formed into a fist. A light blue glow began to form within her fist as she punched at the Aura Sphere, freezing it. Then, without Alicia's command, Beau kicked the frozen Aura Sphere vertically upwards. Everyone became awed at the sight as Eldin, and most likely the others, wondered what Beau and Alicia were up to.

"Use Iron Tail with Thunder Punch and Blaze Kick!" Alicia said.

"Lucario, stay on guard!" Riley rose a brow at Alicia's commands while saying his own, his Lucario blinked in slight confusion but kept his guard.

Beau seemed to be the only one who knew what Alicia was talking about. When the frozen Aura Sphere came falling down, Beau's tail suddenly glowed as she jumped up to slam her Iron Tail against the frozen Aura Sphere, slicing it in half. Just when the two pieces came apart from each other, Beau's fist somehow electrified as her right foot began to engulf in flames. She did Thunder Punch on one half of the frozen Aura Sphere while using her Blaze Kick on the other, sending the electrified and fiery halves right back at Riley's Lucario!

"Lucario! Move to the right!" Riley commanded as he shifted his arm to the said direction.

Riley's Lucario did as he was told and avoided the Aura Sphere fragments that were sent right back at him.

"ExtremeSpeed and Metal Claw on the fiery half!" Alicia commanded.

The female, one-armed Lucario quickly dashed towards the fiery half of the frozen Aura Sphere while ignoring the electrified half, which had already slammed against the ground, therefore missing its target. She raised her arm as the spike on the back of her paw suddenly glowed and formed into the Metal Claw. While in its Metal Claw form, Beau slammed it against the fiery Aura Sphere half, sending it again at Riley's Lucario. Except this time, before Riley could give out any commands, the fiery Aura Sphere half slammed against Riley's Lucario with great force before it could react.

Eldin and the other looked on in surprise. Riley, though looking a little worried about his Lucario, was fairly impressed at how Beau was able to follow Alicia's commands so easily. Eldin looked at the female, one-armed Lucario, he had no idea that his own kind were capable of learning moves like Thunder Punch or Ice Punch. Sure, there were some in the pack on Iron Island that were able to use Blaze Kick after an intense amount of training, but... How was Beau able to learn those other two attacks?

"Force Palm!" Alicia called out, snapping golden-colored Lucario out of his thoughts.

"Lucario, Protect!" Riley called out.

However, just as Riley's Lucario set up the barrier in order to prevent Beau from damaging him, things didn't go as planned on Riley's side. For Beau's only arm glowed white and slammed it against the barrier, shattering it. When Riley's Lucario's guard was lowered just briefly, Beau slammed the palm of her paw against her opponent's stomach.

There was a brief silence as Beau kept her paw on Riley's Lucario, who eyes widened a little. He twitched slightly at the feeling of paralysis, the after effects of a Force Palm, before falling onto his back.

"Riley's Lucario is unable to battle!" Byron's voice called out as he raised his left arm, still holding his shovel, "**The winner is Alicia and her Lucario!**"

While Eliade and Alicia's Pokémon were celebrating about the fact that Beau had won, Beau didn't seem fazed at all. In fact, her expression remained the same throughout the whole battle. Eldin then noticed something: Beau had never used Aura Sphere at all during the match.

Closing his eyes, Eldin carefully read Beau's Aura signature. It was a bit difficult due to Eliade's flaming aura, but to his surprise, Beau's Aura signature was fairly strong around one point: her left shoulder. Her aura wasn't as strong as Eliade's, not by a long shot, but that Aura point on Beau's left shoulder left a fairly strong reading. He opened his eyes, and found that Beau was staring at him. Did she notice him trying to read her Aura signature?

Whether or not she knew, she simply said nothing as she turned to her Trainer, who came running towards her.

"You were great, Beau!" Alicia complimented as she hugged her Aura Pokémon, "You've made quite a spectacle!" She then shrugged with the grin still on her face, "Even though it wasn't exactly a Contest Battle."

Beau merely said nothing as she leaned her head on Alicia's shoulder, but she did smile very slightly, which Eldin was barely able to notice. Apparently, Beau seemed to show her emotions, even though it was very little, only to Alicia.

"I must say," Riley walked up to Alicia after helping his Lucario up and gave him a Sitrus Berry, "Beau is quite strong, she didn't take a single hit and beat my friend here with just two hits."

"Well, I've trained her to use a large variety of attacks," Alicia said as she rubbed Beau's head between the female Lucario's ears, "I've gone so far as to finding Move Tutors for Beau to learn moves like Ice Punch and Thunder Punch. Especially since it helps her counter Flying and Ground-types, Dragon-types, especially."

"I see," Riley nodded, "Even so, freezing the Aura Sphere in order to send it right back at us was quite a unique counter. I will admit, I didn't expect Beau to use Feint when Lucario used Protect."

"I kinda did that out of habit," Alicia laughed a little nervously, "For you see, Eliade is a Pokémon Trainer and Researcher. As for me? I'm just a Coordinator."

"Ah, so you participate in Contests..."

"Yes, and while Beau will listen to my commands, sometimes she does something out of her own means, such as that Feint. It doesn't bother me at all, though, since it actually _helps!_"

Eldin raised a brow as an ear tilted slightly, he had no idea what a "Coordinator" or "contests" were, but apparently Alicia and her Pokémon participate in them. He then turned his attention to Beau, who kept acting emotionless throughout the whole time he had seen her. Was _she_ Alicia's mindless slave? He had doubts, because Beau always obeyed Alicia without question, much less a word. He looked at the other Pokémon within Alicia's team. Telos looked fairly excited, Dipper looked really impressed, while Ashley seemed proud. Eldin then turned to Eliade's team, who were right next to him. Koki looked impressed, Louie looked amazed and hungry (in which Eldin decided to keep his distance), and Jackson was awed throughout the whole battle. Glancing at Beverly, while looking a bit impressed, had a slight look of concern on her face, as did Eliade. Eldin looked at the two (for he was between them), did these two know something about as to why Beau is so emotionless?

"I didn't think that a Coordinator would beat Riley," Roark's comment caused the golden-colored Lucario to turn his head towards him, "Alicia's Lucario is very impressive."

"Well, Beau's an odd one, I'll admit," Eliade said before having a humored smile on her face, "But she's just extremely shy. Though because of that, it's kind of hard to tell what's inside her mind."

"I see."

That answered some of Eldin's questions. It wasn't that Beau was afraid, she was just shy. However, she was shy enough to the point of not showing her emotions? Something was indeed odd about her. It was then Eldin noticed that, out of all the Pokémon that he has come across so far, Beau was the only one who raised the most questions in his mind. Must be because she was one of his own kind. Still, he couldn't help but wonder, did Beau really go with Alicia on her own free will? Or was she forced? Eldin sighed inwardly, he felt that he needed to stop asking himself questions, for he knew he won't be getting any answers. He knew he never will, for Eliade will be releasing him tomorrow.

Eldin couldn't help but doubt that being released back on Iron Island was a good thing in the long run.

He was so absorbed into his thoughts that it took a small push from Beverly with her hoof in order for him to snap back into reality. Eldin looked at her for a moment before focusing his attention on the humans.

"Tell you what," Byron said as Eliade climbed out from the small wall in front of the bleachers, "If you guys help us with our fossil expedition, I'll battle you. Is that okay with you?"

"I don't mind," Eliade spoke, "As long as Alicia's satisfied. Besides," she pointed her thumb at the golden-colored Lucario, "I'll be releasing Eldin back on Iron Island tomorrow, anyway. So going with you guys gives me the best opportunity into doing so."

Byron looked at Eldin with an eyebrow raised, "...I see."

* * *

About thirty minutes later, Eliade and Alicia were back at the Pokémon Center, their Pokémon in tow.

Apparently, they were inside of the Canalave City Gym longer than everyone thought they were. For as soon as the two Trainers and their Pokémon came out of the Gym, they've all discovered that it was close to nighttime. After spending about an hour on making the food for the Pokémon, Eliade and Alicia went to bed inside a room they've rented and turned themselves in for the night, but not before Eliade had instructed Beverly about Jackson's feeding habits.

Currently, all of the Pokémon were eating their food from bowls that Eliade and Alicia had prepared for them. Their Trainers were sleeping in a room that's behind a door nearby. In Pokémon Centers, a Pokémon Trainer can rent a two room suite. One room being for where Trainers can sleep, the second being where the Pokémon can relax, complete with multiple colored cushions.

Eldin, who was sitting on the floor beside many of the Pokémon, looked up from where he was eating (which was a bowl full of berries, organic pellets, and Poffins) and saw the Pokémon being completely content. Beverly was feeding Jackson Moomoo Milk from a bottle that Eliade had handed to her before hand, while some of the others were watching with amused looks. Sensing that nothing was probably going to happen, he went back to his bowl and started to nibble on a Sitrus Berry before Ashley, the pink and brown female Gastrodon, broke the silence.

"Hey guys, what do you think Alicia and the others will discover on Iron Island?"

"Well," Koki, the Infernape, began, "Since our group were so focused on getting rid of those Team Galactic humans from Iron Island, we really don't know. However, there are a lot of Zubats, Golbats, Geodudes, Onix and maybe a Steelix or two..." he then shrugged, "The usual."

"Well," the Ursaring, Dipper, placed his paws together, "I guess that just makes it the more exciting?"

The golden-colored Lucario sighed a little and looked away while biting his lower lip, his eyes narrowed at the memory of him being exiled. Ever since his exile, which was from almost leading the foolish greedy humans, those that have tried to capture him before, towards the pack. Eldin had developed a dislike for that place, despite being born there. Gently raising a paw to touch the usually forgotten scar on his chest, his paw shook slightly. That damned leader...

"Uh... Eldin?" the Lickilicky, Louie, whom Eldin had somewhat forgotten about, spoke with his mouth partially full, "Are you okay?"

Eldin took notice of the other Pokémon looking at him, he merely shook his paw in a dismissive manner in hopes of them leaving him alone.

The Miltank and Ursaring looked at each other for a moment with one eyebrow raised before nodding at each other. Eldin couldn't help but wonder what those two were thinking. While the two oldest Pokémon, Beverly and Dipper, didn't say anything concerning Eldin, the others had other ideas.

"So, what's up?" Telos asked with an eyebrow raised, "From what I can see, you are _not_ okay."

"...I'm fine," Eldin quietly countered as he slowly ate a pink-colored poffin, which tasted a little sweet, but good.

"Look, Eldin, don't try to fool us," Telos now had a determined look on his face, "We've come across others that had the same expression as you before. Now tell us, what's wrong?"

Eldin looked down at his bowl of food slightly. This time, he had eaten what Eliade had given him without hesitation, unlike the slight food paranoia he had earlier midday. For some reason, he was already having doubts about the fact if he should go back to Iron Island. Like he thought about before, if he were to be released back on Iron Island, other greedy humans, including that foolish woman with the Houndoom, would try to capture him again. He'll be constantly on the run again. After witnessing Eliade defend Eldin from the foolish human female that had tried to capture him before, for a very brief moment he felt that he was no longer on the run. However, he didn't know how he should put it for the others.

"Eldin," Telos began, "I'm merely asking..." he suddenly fell silent as a black paw laid itself on his shoulder.

"...It is none of our business, Telos," to Eldin's surprise, it was Beau speaking in a soft and quiet voice.

"Beau...?" Telos spoke as everyone else looked at her, surprised.

"...He only has doubts about recent events," Beau quietly spoke, "...Give him time to think."

No one spoke for a moment before Beverly broke the silence, "All right, everyone. Let's just set aside the subject for now and get some sleep. You know that Eliade doesn't like it if we don't get our rest."

Telos reluctantly agreed before he and the others went to other nearby cushions and curled up on top of them. Beau, however, instantly agreed with a silent nod. After pulling her paw away from Telos, she gently picked up Jackson and let him sleep beside her as she slowly began to curl herself up on top of a dark purple cushion. The baby Riolu, Jackson, instantly made himself comfortable by curling himself on Beau's left side. It didn't take long for any of them to fall into fairly deep slumber.

Before Beverly decided to turn in, she pointed at a dark green cushion next to Beau, "You can sleep there."

Eldin looked at the only remaining cushion before turning back at Beverly.

The Miltank only smiled a little, "Don't worry, no one will try to harm you. And if someone tries to do so, we'll protect you."

Although that didn't help much as he watched Beverly settle herself to sleep, at least hearing it from her was somewhat reassuring. So far, Eliade and all of her Pokémon have made no attempt in forcing him to do anything. Well, except for Telos, but at least he didn't _physically_ force him to say anything. In a way, Eldin was grateful that Beau had stopped Telos. However, he also felt a little upset, for he just realized something: despite feeling a little out of place among Eliade and Alicia's group of Pokémon, he felt that he was right at home. No one among them said a thing about his odd coloration at all, other than Telos saying that he was just like him. Since Eliade was so great at reading a Pokémon's feelings, she would comfort him when needed...

He then realized that he didn't want to be released...

_What am I thinking?_ Eldin shook his head with a paw between his eyes. While trying to collect his thoughts, he slowly and quietly laid himself on the only remaining cushion. Looking at whatever it was from his right, he found that Beau and Jackson were already asleep, with Beau having her arm protectively around Jackson.

Knowing that he won't be able to solve anything for now, Eldin quietly made himself comfortable and went to sleep.

* * *

**Before anyone says something silly, it _is_ possible for a Lucario (Beau in this case) to know Ice Punch and Thunder Punch. However, the only way of doing this is by Move Tutoring in Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver. For some reason, a Lucario cannot learn Fire Punch; however, it is possible for them to learn Blaze Kick, and that is by breeding. Since Lucarios are in the Field/Human-like Egg Groups, you can have these three Pokémon (the father _must_ know this move) to breed with a female Lucario: Smeargle (who must Sketch the move first), Hitmonlee, and Blaziken. With this, you can get a Riolu knowing Blaze Kick. The same thing applies for Chimchar; for this, just use a female member of the Chimchar family.**

**Just so you all know, like in the anime, I won't be sticking to the strict "Four Moves Only" gig here in this fanfic like it does in the games, this is just to make things easier for me here. So if you find a Pokémon doing a move they normally cannot learn by leveling up, then it's learned by either TM, breeding, or tutoring. Beau is the best example for this, since she mainly uses moves that can be learned from the three methods mentioned.**

**And what is this, Beau has spoken. Le gasp. The world must be ending. Not. Heh, I'd like to know how you guys reacted when you read the part with Beau speaking. And yes, in my Diamond game, Beau really does know Blaze Kick, but not the Thunder and Ice Punches.**

**To prevent future confusion from what Alicia has said. Here's the mini-bio: Eliade is a Pokémon Trainer and part-time Researcher, as for why in terms of research, you'll find out in a few chapters. Alicia is a Coordinator, so she goes after Contests, not Gym Battles. Alicia is also a huge fan of fossils, as shown here in this chapter. As for the rest, you'll find out once I post the chapter that explains them.**

**Still, thanks for reading.**


	4. No More

**Whoa, it's been almost two months here? Man, I feel bad... Anyway, I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter here, but I wanted to end things about the Aura Pack here and get on with the adventure. I tried to make this chapter look less ugly in my opinion, and even now, I'm still not that satisfied. And now, my replies:**

**PianistChris: I probably might not reveal Beau's origins for a while, but I will place in little bits at a time; the same will apply for the other Pokémon, as well.**

**C'est un Monde Merveilleux: Yeah, Beau's usually soft spoken, but she will be strict if she feels that a situation could lead to trouble. And now that you mention most of my Pokémon being Fighting-types here, I did notice that. I actually don't have a favorite typing, I just use what I like, which are mostly Pokémon that one would normally not see in Wi-Fi battles. As for Dipper the Ursaring, instead of Rock Smash, he knows Close Combat in my Diamond game, which is an Egg Move. I bred a female Ursaring with a Smeargle to get a Teddiursa (Dipper) with Close Combat and Night Slash. I'll tell you (and everyone else here) that Dipper has been an awesomely fun Pokémon to use in PBR Wi-Fi battles, and fittingly enough, the Trainer Pass he's in is under Alicia's name.**

**SHARPIE Addict: Wow, I didn't think that a Fullmetal Alchemist fan would like this. Well, then again, I like that series, too. Thanks for the comment!**

**DreamWisher: Hey, thanks for your comment! And I love the quotes that you keep in your profile, they're so true. My favorite one was: "The difference between fiction and Reality? Fiction has to make sense."**

**heavensentskysky: I tend to get carried away with the details, but I'm glad that you like them. Thanks for your review!**

**Responses aside, here's Chapter Four, even though I'm not fully satisfied with it.**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Sounds of people gasping.

_"Ah...!"_

A girl's voice rang out.

_"It won't stop! The bleeding won't stop!"_

Eldin opened his eyes and found himself standing in a very dark forest. Odd, when did he get here? He then tensed... that human, Eliade... released him in the middle of the night!

_"It won't stop! It won't stop bleeding!"_

The golden-colored Lucario's ears twitched at the sound of the voice, which he recognized it to be... Alicia's, wasn't it? He looked around, and found nothing but large dark trees and leaves, most of them looking dead. Looking down, he suddenly paled, for he had discovered that he was standing on a dark red spot, and it was slowly spreading. He jumped away instantly, for he could've sworn that it was...

_"There's blood everywhere!"_ the voice (Alicia's...?) rang out again.

Eldin looked around again as he whipped his head around in almost all directions. Looking down again, he found a vague but bloody paw print... something small glinted amongst the red...

_"We've got to take her to the hospital! Hurry!"_

* * *

"...!"

Eldin jolted awake with a cold sweat. He sighed, it was just a dream. Quickly sitting up, he found that all of the other Pokémon were still sleeping, showing no signs of bleeding, much less any harm. Looking to his right, he found that Beau and Jackson were missing.

_Where _are_ they?_ Eldin's eyes widened. Because of that odd dream he had earlier...

A creaking sound caused Eldin to whip his head at the door that lead to the room the two Trainers were sleeping in. Instead of some psychopathic human, based from what he could've guessed from his slight nightmare, he saw the dark-skinned woman, Eliade, walk in with a few bowls full of food in her arms. She yawned a little before setting the bowls down beside her group of Pokémon, who were still sleeping, and it wasn't until she set a bowl down before Eldin did she realize that the Lucario was awake.

"...Huh?" Eliade looked up, still kneeled down, and stared at Eldin straight in the face with tired eyes, "...Oh, morning," she then looked around, "Are they still snoozin'? Oh, wait, they are..."

Eldin rose a brow, a little surprised at the way Eliade was acting right now. She was wearing a white sleeveless shirt and loose black relaxer pants, and her long black hair was slightly unkempt. Looking at the cushion where Beau and Jackson used to be, he gently tapped her shoulder with his paw.

"Hm?" she gave out a small, yawning grunt, "What's... waits... you no hungry? ...Mmm..." she yawned again, before rubbing her eyes, "Sorry, not fully awake yet..." she then faced Eldin while wiping a tear from her eye, "Do you need something?"

The Lucario merely pointed at the cushion next to him.

"Oh, you're wondering where those two went?" Eliade asked with a tired voice, "Jackson got hungry again, so Beau woke me up... Ugh..." she rubbed her head, "I swear, _why_ is it that all baby Pokémon have to be awake so early in the morning..."

Eldin could only wonder if this human had gotten enough sleep. Then again, she probably would have had Beau not woken her up for Jackson. Another thought then came to his senses, relief, Eliade hadn't released him yet. However, he tried to mentally shake off that feeling. Part of him wanted to go back to the pack where he originally lived, but the other... Eldin mentally sighed, the other part of his being wanted him to stay with her... He sighed again, but this time Eliade heard it.

"Eldin?" Eliade was now fully awake, for she was looking at him with a concerned look on her face. She gently placed a hand on the side of his head, "What's wrong?"

He only looked down, since he is unable to speak the human language and only understand it, he has no idea how he should express it to her.

To his amazement, Eliade seemed to have read his mind, "Does it have something to do with your home?"

The Lucario looked up at her and nodded.

"...You really don't have a home, do you?" Eliade whispered with a look of pity on her face.

Eldin looked at her, wide-eyed. How was she...?

She only smiled with a small sad look on her face, "You're not the first Pokémon I have come across that has suffered a similar fate," she then turned to the other Pokémon, "Most of them had similar fates until I took them in. Alicia helped, too."

The Lucario tilted his head slightly when Eliade turned her head back to face him.

"That's mainly the reason why I never try to capture a Pokémon without their consent," Eliade said with a small shrug, "Though, I only do that in case of an emergency, such as you almost being taken away by Team Galactic. I'm still going to keep my promise, though. Because I know you don't want to be with us, anyway."

Before Eldin could give any response, he and the young woman suddenly heard some growling. They both turned and saw that Dipper was beginning to wake up, which caused Eliade to suddenly stand.

"Oh, crud...!" Eliade was barely able to keep herself from yelling by clapping her hands over her mouth, "I've forgotten to bring the rest of the food in!" She pointed at the bowl she had already placed down in front of Eldin while quickly saying, "That's your breakfast," before quietly running back to the door and went out of the room with a slightly frantic expression.

Eldin couldn't help but slightly smile at Eliade's frantic frame as she scrambled out, for he found it slightly amusing. Looking down at the bowl of food that she had left for him, he found that it was the same stewed meal made from berries that she had given him when they first met on Iron Island. He gently picked up a chunk of a Sitrus Berry and ate it. It tasted really good to him, which caused him to realize that Eliade had provided the best food he had ever eaten in his entire life. His attention suddenly turning to the Ursaring as he saw the Hibernator Pokémon stretch himself with a yawn.

"Hrrrgh..." Dipper stretched his limbs until a few krick krack sounds were heard due to him being in the position for so long. He looked around with his only good eye and saw the dishes around Eliade's Pokémon, who were beginning to wake up, "Huh, where's our food at?"

Eldin hesitated for a moment before answering, "She hasn't brought them in yet."

The Ursaring turned to him, surprised, "Oh, hey. Didn't know you were awake."

The Lucario could only shrug in response.

It was then Dipper took notice of Beau and Jackson's absence, "Hm, any idea where those two are at?" Eldin merely pointed at the door that Eliade had exited from in response. While the Ursaring looked at the door, he mumbled, "Must've been because of Jackson or something..." he then turned back to the golden-colored Lucario, "So... Eldin. How are you feeling? It looks like you've fully recovered from your burns."

Eldin looked down at himself and found that the bandages wrapped around his chest and left leg, which he had forgotten that he had worn last night, were removed. Odd, when were they taken? The Lucario decided not to worry about it, though, since they are already gone. Dropping that subject, he turned his attention to the Ursaring while slowly eating the berry chunks from the stew Eliade had left him, "...Dipper."

The said Hibernator Pokémon turned his head towards Eldin as Eliade's Pokémon were already awake and started eating, oblivious to the others around them. Dipper rose a brow, or at least his version of it, "What?"

"...What caused you to be with... Alicia in the first place?" he asked, barely remembering Alicia's name.

"Oh, that's what's bugging you?" Dipper blinked before shrugging, "Eh, guess I could kill some time. Got nothing else to do before either of our Trainers bring the rest of the food in..." he then lifted a paw and rubbed his chin, "I've been with Alicia for years, I was actually her first friend when it comes down to us Pokémon here."

Eldin rose a brow.

Dipper only responded, "Well, actually, I was given to her as a present when she was... eight? Ten? I dunno, can't remember, anyway. Like I said earlier, I was given to Alicia when I was merely a small Teddiursa from her parents, who don't seem to visit her much for some weird reason," the Ursaring then saw Eldin's odd expression, "I really don't remember anything about my birthplace, if that's what you're thinking."

"Ah, no," the Lucario said rather quickly, even though that was part of it.

The Ursaring seemed to have read his mind, "Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'll admit that I was afraid of Alicia at first," that mere statement caught Eldin's attention as Dipper continued on, "But she never became tired of me, for she would always want me to play around with her and, well, do almost everything with her. After all of that, I ended up liking her enough to the point of her being my best friend and Trainer some time later, as cheesy as it sounds to some," Dipper couldn't help but smirk slightly.

After hearing some of Dipper's words, Eldin quietly thought to himself. So the Ursaring didn't go with her by his own free will at first, but he became used to her. Were the others like this? Louie the Lickilicky didn't exactly count, since Louie himself told Eldin that he was with Eliade ever since he hatched out of his own egg. Beverly the Miltank was with Eliade for many years after being passed down from her mother, who was "late" according to the Milk Cow Pokémon...

All of a sudden the door that lead to the exit opened again, revealing Eliade, who was carrying some more bowls full of food, and woke the other Pokémon from Alicia's side.

"Sorry... about that," the Trainer panted a little as she set the bowls down in front of Alicia's Pokémon, "Here's... your breakfast, everyone," she let another breath to steady herself, "Well, dig in."

Alicia's Pokémon only nodded in thanks as they started to eat whatever Eliade had provided for them. After seeing that everyone was satisfied, Eliade went out of the room, probably to check on Jackson, wherever he is.

Eldin looked around again, wondering where Beau was. Not that he was worried about her or anything, he just simply wondered before remembering that she was most likely with Jackson. He looked up at the ceiling after finishing the stewed berries in his bowl. He sighed a little as his eyes narrowed slightly, for he had slightly and silently dreaded about being released. If Eliade were to release him, then he would literally have nowhere else to go. He shook his head and attention away from the ceiling and looked down, what was he thinking? Did he truly want to stay with Eliade, a human? All of the other humans he has come across on Iron Island were greedy for his capture, but... Eliade wasn't, and neither was that human man in blue, Riley. He didn't know about those two Gym Leaders, Roark and Byron, but...

He didn't know what to think anymore.

"Eldin?"

The golden-colored Lucario looked up and saw Beverly standing in front of him.

"You look a little pale," the Miltank gently placed a hoof on Eldin's shoulder, "Are you all right?"

"...Yes," he nodded slightly.

"You don't seem to be."

Eldin couldn't help but wonder how in the world of Arceus was Beverly able to read his mind, then again, virtually everyone else had. It was a bit unsettling, but it also comforted him somehow in an unexplainable way. Trying to find a way to divert the topic, Eldin merely asked, "What are these... 'fossils' exactly?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you about that," Beverly rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, she then sat down nest to him in order to explain, "You see, fossils are actually the remains of Pokémon that have lived long ago. Like say, a skeleton of a Starly or something, or maybe some footprints of some ancient Pokémon... that kind of stuff, and..." The Lucario only listened to what Beverly was saying; at least learning something new made him feel a little better. He then asked her about what "Contests" and "Coordinators" were, and Beverly happily explained them. Apparently, Contests were occasions that Alicia and her Pokémon would participate in, mainly in order to make performances with their attack combos and such. Eldin learned that during these "Battle Rounds," the Coordinators and their Pokémon have to engage in a battle while making the battle itself look beautiful. Beverly then used the time when Beau was able to do her unique counter against the Aura Sphere made by Riley's Lucario as an example for this.

"...And that's what's required to win the Ribbons in order to participate in the annual Grand Festival," Beverly finished, "Does this satisfy you?"

"Yes," Eldin nodded, "Thank you."

"Anytime," the Miltank smiled before turning to the door, "I wonder how Beau is doing..."

"Sorry?" Eldin rose a brow.

"Whenever Beau isn't around, she's usually with Alicia," Beverly said, "You see, Beau is very close to her Trainer, even though it may not look like it."

_Alicia and Beau... they're close?_ Eldin questioned in his mind. Then again, he remembered Alicia always being very kind and soft spoken towards the female, one-armed Lucario. And that while Beau was always quiet, she would give very little reaction towards her Trainer. However, she did seem happy... was she?

All of a sudden the door that lead to the exit opened again, revealing Eliade and Alicia to be fully dressed in the same clothes from yesterday, with Beau carrying Jackson behind them. Alicia said something to her Pokémon, whom Eldin had discovered to have already finished whatever they were eating, took out her Poké Balls and recalled everyone except for Beau. Eldin's ears moved down slightly, how did the Pokémon feel whenever they're in those things? However, since he was also inside a Poké Ball one time, despite barely remembering it, he really couldn't give much of a complaint before remembering that none of the other Pokémon seemed to have complained about it. While Alicia was picking up the now empty bowls, Eliade said something to her own Pokémon with a smile on her face before recalling everyone.

Eliade then turned to Eldin with a Poké Ball in hand, "Don't worry, this won't hurt."

Before Eldin could make a response, he was suddenly in the path of a thin red beam before feeling bodiless.

* * *

_"I'm going to do as I promised."_

A small grunt was heard as Eldin suddenly felt like he had regained his body. Opening his eyes, he found himself in familiar grounds: Iron Island.

"You're free, Eldin," the golden-colored Lucario turned and saw Eliade putting the Poké Ball away. Next to her were Alicia, and the three men from yesterday: Riley, Roark, and Byron, with Riley's Lucario next to his Trainer. Eldin had forgotten, those humans were going on a fossil expedition here... He suddenly noticed Beau, who was next to Alicia staring at him with a blank expression on her face with Jackson in her arm. The baby Riolu only looked at Eldin with what seemed to be sadness in his eyes.

"You're free to go, Eldin," the Lucario only stared at Eliade as she said her comment, "I hope you'll be able to live in peace."

Eldin tensed, it was too late, since he wasn't able to give her his answer about him really wanting to be with her, he's now lost his chance. He looked up and the direction of the largest mountain on Iron Island behind him, where the pack of Aura Pokémon are located, hidden in a fairly dense fog. He then thought, if he could prove it to them... that Eliade could be trusted...

"Eldin?" he suddenly felt a hand gently place itself on his shoulder, he looked back at her. She looked concerned, "Is something wrong?"

He looked at where the pack was, then back at her. Eliade looked in the same direction, but instead of questioning him, she gently placed the tips of her fingers from her other hand on her forehead. Her eyes narrowed slightly, "What... is...?"

"Eliade?" Alicia suddenly came up towards her, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it's just..." Eliade looked down slightly while placing her finger on her forehead, as if she had a headache, "Something's weird here... Distress...?"

Eldin looked at her, wide-eyed. Was this human...? He looked up at where the pack was. True enough, he could barely catch a very weak presence of distress, someone in the pack was in trouble. Eldin was banished from going there again, but if Eliade could do something about it...

All of a sudden he grabbed Eliade, carried her in bridal style, and jumped up the mountains. Eliade yelped at the grab, but didn't make any struggle, for she was too surprised to do so. The other four humans, however, who now had shocked stances except for Beau (who didn't react much at all other than slightly widened eyes), looked otherwise. Riley took out a Poké Ball from his pocket and sent out a large blue metallic Pokémon, which had four legs and a large silver-gray "X" on its face. A Metagross. Eldin didn't bother to see what happened afterwards, for he continued to jump up to the area where the Aura Pokémon are located. As soon as he reached his destination, he gently placed Eliade down on the ground.

Eliade got up somewhat shakily as she laughed a little nervously, "Wow... Haha... That was cool... Let's do it again..."

Eldin only blinked at her as his ears drooped slightly. Curses, he made her dizzy. He'll have to wait for her to recover.

The young woman laughed a little again before shaking her head, regaining her composure, "Ugh... I'm glad that I didn't eat much for breakfast," she then looked around, "Huh, so we're up high in the mountains?" she then turned to Eldin, "Why did you bring me here?"

Before Eldin could try to give any response, the Metagross from earlier came up, carrying the four Trainers, along with Jackson, Beau, and Riley's Lucario.

"Eliade!" The said Trainer only turned her head towards Alicia, who jumped off of Riley's Metagross and ran towards her, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Eliade nodded with a smile before turning to the golden-colored Lucario, "I don't know why he brought me here, but I'm sure he has a good reason," she then looked into the direction that led to the Aura pack hidden in the fog before placing a hand on her forehead, "Ugh..."

"Eliade?" Alicia now had a worried look on her face.

Riley was saying something to Roark and Byron, and the two Gym Leaders only had slightly skeptical but serious looks on their faces while Riley continued to say whatever subject it was. His Lucario only looked at Eldin and Eliade occasionally as he would also look at the direction Eldin was intending to take them to, an odd but disbelieving look was in his eyes. As for Beau, she merely stared into the said direction, showing no expression. Jackson only squeaked a little before tightly clinging onto Beau's torso for a sense of protection, causing Beau to only nudge her head against his. Jackson's father, Riley's Lucario, glanced at him for a moment before trying to read the Aura signatures around them. He had an odd look on his face and blinked as looked up ahead to where the pack was.

All of a sudden Eliade ran ahead, much to Eldin's surprise.

"Eliade!" Alicia followed afterwards.

Riley said something to Roark and Byron before the other humans started following, Riley's Metagross and Lucario following. Beau merely stared as everyone else ran, however, as soon as Alicia called her name, she followed with Jackson still in her arms.

Eldin, who knew that he was the only one who knows the way around these parts, instantly used ExtremeSpeed to reach Eliade.

"You knew something wasn't right here," she turned her head towards him as she continued to run.

Eldin nodded.

She stopped for a moment, as she seemed to have realized something. When the others caught up with her, Roark tried to say something, "Hey, why were you-"

"_**Get back!**_" she pushed the Rock-type Gym Leader away from here before kicking a familiar blue-green sphere that came down upon them, sending it back from wherever it came. A small explosion from the sphere followed afterwards. Everyone, except for Beau and Eldin, had shocked expressions.

"That was an Aura Sphere," Riley muttered, "But how...?" He turned to Eldin, "Unless..."

"I guess this explains why Eldin lives here," Alicia let out a nervous giggle, as she looked up at the many pairs of red eyes glaring at them below.

Another Aura Sphere was coming towards then, but Beau instantly sent it back easily with a Blaze Kick. Not only did it cause a small explosion afterwards, a familiar blue-colored Pokémon fell down to the ground, apparently being hit by its own attack.

"A Lucario...?" Byron only rose a brow as he tightened his grip on his shovel before mumbling to himself, "Looks like we'll be digging for something more than just fossils here."

* * *

Eldin sweated a little as he watched Eliade kick another Aura Sphere away from the Lucario that Beau had unintentionally knocked down. The opposing Aura Pokémon glared at him in disgust, with the golden-colored Lucario to only shrink back slightly behind Eliade in response. The tall dark-skinned woman had a confused look on her face as she watch Eldin move, but didn't say anything as she turned her eyes towards the wild Lucario with an eyebrow raised.

Her lips stretched slightly, showing that she was skeptical of something. Placing a hand on her head as if she had a headache, Eliade looked up before biting her lip, "Wait, so that's...?" She then looked back at the wild Lucario and noticed that it was injured from its own attack. Eliade smiled a little, "So that's it."

"Eliade?" Roark walked up to her, "You know what's going on?"

"I think I do," Eliade slowly walked up toward the wild Aura Pokémon, causing it to create another Aura Sphere, which was smaller than usual, and threw it at the Trainer. However, she merely swatted it away with her hand, "You won't be able to continue fighting that way," she said as she took out a small red and orange bottle from her shoulder bag and gently grabbed the Aura Pokémon arm. It growled at Eliade for a moment, but silenced instantly when he saw her stern glare, much to Eldin's surprise. The human wasted no time spraying the medicine around the wild Lucario's injuries until she noticed a strange bruise on its left arm, "This is...!"

"Eliade," Alicia came up, "What's up?"

"Look closely at this injury," the older Trainer said as the other humans and Pokémon looked, "You can see bite marks from a Golbat here. Looks like a Golbat tried to poison this Lucario here with a Poison Fang attack, except that since Lucarios are part Steel-type, they can't be poisoned."

"What about a Riolu like Jackson?" Alicia asked as she looked at Beau, who was holding the baby Pokémon in question.

"Riolus are pure Fighting-type," Riley explained, "So it's possible for them to have the Poison status condition."

"And I'm betting a year's worth of fossils that something's going up on there," Byron looked up at the small cliff above.

Eliade took notice of the wild Lucario's quiet growling as he glared at Eldin in disgust. Eldin made no reaction, having come across this so many times before. Eliade turned to him while pointing at the other Aura Pokémon, "Do you know this one?" Eldin only turned away with a small sigh, giving her the only answer she needed to know: Yes, but not in a friendly way. She got the message, "I see."

All of a sudden the wild Lucario jumped away from them and out of sight, much to everyone's surprise. Eldin, however, expected it. Ever since his birth, or at least he thought so, that pack of Aura Pokémon would always be so _antsy_ around those foreign to them. Well, then again, he was also a bit nervous around Eliade at first, mainly due to other humans trying to capture him before, but warmed up to her after realizing that she meant no harm. Still, he needed to find a way to prove to them that at least she could be trusted.

"Eldin."

He turned his attention to Eliade.

"Do you know where it's heading?"

He nodded.

"Then lead the way."

* * *

_"What are you doing here?"_

The growling that came from the leader of the Aura pack sent shivers down to Eldin's spine, the remnants of the pack hiding a fair distance away from them. He was able to keep his cool, though, by remembering that the leader was the one who gave him the scar that was on his chest over his spike. Eldin made sure that Eliade, along with Alicia and the others, weren't in harm's way. He probably didn't have to worry about Jackson, for Beau was very strong for someone of their species. Speaking of the female one-armed Lucario, she merely stared at the leader with no expression.

The humans, mainly Eliade and Riley, made the smart decision of keeping a fair distance away from the main part of the pack, leaving their Aura Pokémon to do whatever is necessary. Alicia did consider recalling Beau into her Poké Ball, but Eliade prevented her from doing so. Not yet, at least. Riley's Lucario was beside the humans, giving himself the task of protecting them from any sneak attacks.

_"I said, what are you doing here?"_

The leader, which was a normal blue Lucario that was a foot taller than average, narrowed his eyes at Eldin.

_"...I came here to prove that... not all humans are bad,"_ Eldin growled a little. Beau still stared at the leader, with Jackson on top of her head. The only movement she did was place her only paw over her left shoulder.

The leader took notice of this with an eyebrow raised, _"What did those humans do to you, outsider?"_ he asked in his still strong and intimidating tone.

Beau didn't answer, but she did narrow her eyes at him for a moment before listening to some of Jackson's squeaks. A small sense of relief set itself on Eldin's shoulders, for Jackson was able to divert some of the attention away from him. Jackson gave a small squeak to Beau again, probably to encourage her or something, whatever it was, it helped.

_"Alicia and those humans had nothing to do with the loss of my arm,"_ Beau responded with a strict tone and her eyes narrowed, much to Eldin's surprise, _"Leave her and the others out of this."_

_"...Very well."_

Eldin only blinked. The leader accepted Beau's request so easily... just what was going on? Even so, he tried his best to keep his cool when the leader glared back at him. Before Eldin could ask anything, though, Beau spoke again.

_"Does Eldin live here or not?"_ she spoke plainly, showing no interest in anything else.

_"No,"_ the leader answered, taking a moment to find out whom Eldin was, _"Not anymore, considering that he has now led foolish humans into our residence. Not that I cared, they were only after him, anyway."_

_"You do not care about your fellow teammates?"_ Beau's eyes narrowed, her voice showing a slight trace of disgust, _"You never tried to help him from his plight?"_

_"If those human discover us, then it's over,"_ the leader glared as he lifted a paw, showing that he has had enough, _"Now leave."_

Beau raised a brow as she turned her head towards Eldin, who turned his head away to hide his saddened expression.

_"The humans behind us were only out for digging,"_ Beau spoke plainly, but Eldin was able to detect a small trace of disgust again.

While Eldin was having a slightly confused look at Beau's change of topic, the leader suddenly unleashed an Aura Sphere, having become impatient at Beau. Before the Aura Sphere hit, however, Beau made Jackson leap off her head and into Eldin's arms before unleashing an Ice Punch on the glowing sphere, freezing it. The frozen Aura Sphere then fell down to the ground in front of them. While the leader remained where he was, he was a little surprised at Beau's counter.

_"If you're going to fight, then at least challenge me honorably,"_ she simply spoke.

However, something else happened… to the extreme.

_**"YOU IDIOT!"**_

Eldin turned his head behind him and suddenly saw Eliade rushing towards them and boy, is she _ticked_. Before Eldin could register what was going on, Eliade suddenly grabbed the leader Lucario by the shoulders and started shaking him.

"What is _with_ you? Attacking someone with a _poor_ _defenseless_ _baby_ Pokémon! It's _Jackson_, for crying out loud! He's a _Riolu!_ A _baby! Think of the __**little ones!**_"

"Uh, Eliade?" Alicia suddenly walked up, "I think you got him already..."

"Huh?" Eliade stopped shaking the wild Lucario and noticed that he was long dizzy, "Oh. Hmm... Oh, well," she simply opened her hands and let the Aura Pokémon fall on his back, "He wasn't the same one from earlier, anyway."

While Jackson, who was in Eldin's arms, was laughing a little at Eliade's actions, Eldin was really confused. First she was all caring, and then she has a temper that involves harming a Pokémon, and now this. Just what kind of person is she? Looking at Beau in hopes of getting answer, he could've sworn that he saw a faint trace of a _smirk_ on Beau's lips. Seeing that he won't be getting any answers, he decided to wait for whatever happens next. Looking at the leader, he was still on his back, still dizzy from Eliade's shaking. Turning his attention to Eliade, she rubbed her forehead and walked forward.

"All right, leave that inconsiderate jerk be," Eliade spoke with no concern for the wild Lucario, "Let's just go back to fossil digging or something."

No one bothered to question her after that.

* * *

"Oh, dig! Did now! Dig some more! Hurry and dig! Yattoko! Yattoko!"

Alicia was singing this while she, Roark and Byron were digging at a location that was a fair distance away from the Aura Pack with the others.

"...'Yattoko'?" Riley repeated as he, Eliade, and their Aura Pokémon watched them digging.

"It's some kind of chant she's made up," Eliade merely explained as she was feeding Jackson some Moomoo Milk from a baby bottle with Beau beside her, "I've no idea where she got it from, to tell you the truth."

"I see."

Eldin only listened to whatever the humans were saying and decided to keep silent. Having failed to try to convince the leader, much less stand up to him, he felt humiliated in front of Beau and Riley's Lucario. However... he couldn't help but smile a little at the part when Eliade snapped at the leader, and his _expression_... It probably took Eldin all of his willpower to resist showing even _one trace_ of humor in his face when he saw the leader being all miserable around Eliade. Well, at least she snapped for a reason.

Even though he was released, he didn't want to leave Eliade at all. Mainly because for once, he felt safe around her. The Pokémon that were with the two female Trainers had also accepted him for who he was, and they showed no signs of interest in terms of his odd color. He then thought, what if he were to allow Eliade to "capture" him again? How would he do that? Looking a few weeks back, he remembered that the human Trainers would hold the Poké Balls and then throw it at their Pokémon target. He remembered the small button that could be seen on those odd spheres, would that do something for him?

"Wahoo! I found something!"

Everyone turned to Alicia and found that she was now brushing some dirt off of whatever she has discovered, but eventually it became disappointment for her, "Aw, man, an Everstone again? Augh… Huh, oh, wait," she dig through the same spot again, this time celebrating, "Yahoo! Found one!"

"You found a fossil?" Byron stopped digging and looked at the piece of rock that Alicia has recently found, "Huh, well what do you know? It's a footprint."

"Do you know which Pokémon this was?" Alicia asked.

"Let's see," Byron took out a magnifying glass and examined it, "… It's from a Golem."

"Those are common here, aren't they?"

"Yes, but not as much as a Graveler's."

Eldin had to tune out the rest of their conversation as Eliade then turned to him, with Jackson still in her arms, "Eldin, what's the matter? You're free to go wherever you need to."

He could only look up at her in response before sighing a little.

He blinked when he saw her slap her forehead, "Agh… I forgot, you don't have a home. As far as I know, those other idiots of your kind aren't going to accept you back. Especially after what I did to that fool that almost hurt Jackson."

Eldin nodded. At the corner of his eye, he saw that Beau had an ear tilted slightly at his direction, showing that she was listening in.

"I could try finding a place for you here," Eliade mused, "But I don't know if it's good enough for your tastes. Augh… big dilemma here."

Riley remained silent throughout this with a strange look on his face. Finally, he then spoke, "If that's the case, then why not take Eldin with you?"

"Come again?"

"It doesn't look like that he has any place to go here on this island," Riley nodded a little, "Yes, I think it's for the best."

"…Only if Eldin thinks so, too," she merely said after sighing.

Eldin's ears twitched slightly before turning to her bag, which was right next to her. Looking at Eliade, he saw that she was having doubts about Riley's words. Having finally made his decision, he placed his paw inside Eliade's bag to search for the one item…

"Eldin? What are you doing?"

He ignored everything around him as he found the Poké Ball that had contained him earlier. Setting it on the ground he gently pressed the small button on the center enlarging it, and before anyone could a protest, he pressed the button again, and willingly allowed the Poké Ball to suck him in.

"Eldin…" he could barely hear Eliade's voice.

_I won't have anything to do with that pack anymore. Ever_.

* * *

**Finally, this chapter is done. I'm pretty well aware that you may think that this chapter isn't that good. But like I said in my Mt. Silver oneshot, I was trying to find a way to make this chapter look less ugly, and I'm still unsatisfied with the result. Plus, I wanted to end things quick here, just so I can get on to the _actual adventure_ here. Did you expect Eldin to go on an all out battle with the leader? Not here, that's too cliché in my opinion, so I decided to make Eldin fail on that, mainly just to add some spice to Eldin's decision.**

**If you're wondering what's going on at the very beginning of the chapter, that will be revealed eventually.**

**And you may have not noticed, but Eliade has a very weird mindset. Because of this, she can be a bit absentminded even for a twenty-one-year-old. And the only times when she's usually angry, it usually involves a Pokémon's safety. The phrase "Think of the little ones!" was also a reference to the "Think of the kittens!" line I would occasionally find on the Net. I wanted to have a little insane moment there, so yeah.**

**By the way, bonus points (and maybe something else) to anyone who knows where I got the "Yattoko" from. Here's a hint, it's from a manga that was adapted from a video game.**


	5. Gym Battle

**Beh, I intended to post this thing on Christmas Day, but I had to edit the battle a little so that way it won't suck. And even now, it still does in my opinion. Oh yeah, and thanks for the reviews everyone. And to Krowe, thanks for your compliment, and I'll try to keep updating this fanfic a little more frequently, probably like once a month or so.**

**Oh, and no need to worry about me Random Cat, like I said in the beginning of the third Chapter, and not to be offensive or getting revenge or anything (for that's immature), I found Y-ko's insults rather humorous. What amused me even more was that they didn't even have a fanfic published at the time that review was made. I read the first few chapters of that fanfic (titled "Maybe Tomorrow") they recently made and... I have no comment on them. If you want to look at it and see whose could be "better," then you be the judge. But to be honest, I really don't care. This is just a fanfic I made for fun and I really don't expect people to read this piece of junk.**

**By the way, you guys seem to have rather interesting theories as to how Beau lost her arm. Feel free to type them down, I'd like to see them.**

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* * *

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**Chapter Five**

* * *

Eliade remained silent as she stared at the Poké Ball she was holding in her right hand. The very same one she used to capture that shiny Lucario, whom she had dubbed Eldin.

And the very same Poké Ball that Eldin had used to willingly capture himself...

"I must be an idiot for not realizing this sooner," she merely muttered to herself as she scooped up some white rice from her plate with her spoon in her left hand.

"Are you okay, Eliade?"

The Trainer looked up from her dinner plate and saw her friend Alicia having a concerned look on her face. It has been about five hours since they've come back from Iron Island with the three men, being Riley, Roark, and his father Byron. While the father and son Gym Leaders were back at the Canalave Gym, Riley and his Lucario had left to go to wherever they intended to. Although Eliade couldn't help but feel bad for Jackson crying when his father, Riley's Lucario, had to leave, she was grateful that Beau was able to calm the tiny Pokémon down. She couldn't help but be amazed at the fact that it was _Beau_ who was able to calm him down and not Beverly.

"Eliade?" Alicia called out again, snapping her from her thoughts.

"I'm fine," Eliade placed Eldin's Poké Ball next to her plate and rolled it around a little, "I'm just thinking about all the craziness that's happened today."

Right now the two Trainers were sitting near a small white table that was inside of the Pokémon Center. While all of their Pokémon were eating their bowls of food provided by the Pokémon Center, strangely, Eliade's newly obtained Lucario had refused to come out of his Poké Ball ever since they left Iron Island. Before they had left Iron Island after Eldin officially joined the team, Eliade had decided to go where the Aura Pack was again on her own, with Alicia and the others to remain behind. She had discovered that a fair few wild Riolus had been suffering the Poison Status Condition, which explained why she had found that Golbat's bite mark on the wild Lucario that she had treated merely hours earlier. Had it not been for that wild Lucario to convince the leader that she wasn't a bad human, Eliade was able to treat the Riolus from their illness. Although she had tried releasing Eldin from his Poké Ball so he could go back to his home, Eldin had merely turned his back towards the pack and went back into the Poké Ball, causing Eliade to leave Iron Island without a word.

"Eldin still hasn't come out of his Poké Ball yet?" Alicia asked as she ate a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

"No," Eliade took this pause as a chance to eat the remnants of her stringed beans.

Alicia decided not to say anything else as she took her now empty plate to the area where dirty dishes are to be collected at. Having done so, she decided to move over to her Pokémon, Beau specifically.

"Are you feeling okay, Beau?" she smiled serenely. The one-armed Lucario didn't say anything, but she did nod, with Jackson squirming a little. Alicia smiled again as she gently placed a hand on the side of her Lucario's head, "You're always like this, aren't you?"

Once again, Beau didn't say anything, but she did lean her head against her Trainer's hand.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine," Alicia said encouragingly, "Besides, we've got Jackson, he'll be able to keep you busy. I'm surprised you even look after him."

Beau merely looked down at the baby Riolu. Alicia rose a brow as Beau looked up at her Trainer again.

"Beau, you don't need to worry," she said as she gave Beau's paw a gentle squeeze, "And if something does happen, I'll protect you. Okay?"

Beau didn't respond for a moment before finally nodding.

"Good," Alicia smiled one last time before walking back to Eliade.

"Quiet as ever, I see," she merely commented as she started to eat the last of her rice.

"Oh, come on, Eliade," Alicia laughed a little, "We both know that Beau will always be like that. Besides, she's still as sweet as any Pokémon can be."

"True..." Eliade trailed off as she stared at Eldin's Poké Ball again.

"...Do you want me to take your plate?"

"Sure, go ahead."

While Alicia took Eliade's dish and walked off, Eliade suddenly felt a nudge on her shoulder. Turning her head, it turned out to be Beverly.

"Hey," she placed a hand on her Miltank's head and rubbed it, "Don't worry, I'm okay. How's Jackson doing?" Beverly simply raised her arm towards the direction of the other Pokémon and sure enough, Jackson was playing around with the Infernape, Gallade and Ursaring while the other Pokémon were watching. Eliade smiled to herself, "At least they're having fun."

Beverly looked up at her Trainer, concerned. Eliade smiled at this, though, the Miltank acted just like her previous Trainer, Eliade's mother... No matter how hard Eliade would try to hide something, both of them would know somehow.

Eliade looked at the Poké Ball containing Eldin again, "...I need to call Dad."

...

Meanwhile in a faraway land...

A fairly tall and muscular dark-skinned man was tending to some Rapidash within the stable. He did so by brushing their fine coats while wearing special gloves to avoid getting burned by their flames before letting them back into the vast space of the the family ranch of Soulhearts. The man was tall, possibly almost reaching six feet. And the outfit he wore, which was white, black, and blue in color, was fitting for outside work. The dark blue-black boots crunched the freshly lain straw that he had put there earlier while he was tending to the last Rapidash in here. Of course, this didn't leave the Fire Horse Pokémon to just stand quietly, for she playfully snagged the man's blue baseball cap from his head.

"All right, Uniflare, cut that out," he said with a chuckle as he took his cap from the Rapidash's mouth and put it back on, "I know that you're a prankster, but you stay off my hat."

The Rapidash named Uniflare only nodded in understanding, having had her fun. The man hummed a tune to himself as he continued to groom the fiery horse. Finally feeling satisfied at the now clean Pokémon, he let the Rapidash out.

"Hnnnnnh..." he stretched himself as he picked up his grooming supplies and placed them into a bucket. He'll have to clean the tools later, though, he could use some rest.

Exiting the stable, the man locked the doors to the stable and started to walk his way back to the house. He looked into the vast space of his ranch, no, the _family_ ranch. He saw the Rapidash that he had tended to earlier running off and racing each other, just to see who was the fastest. Smiling to himself, he eventually made his way back to his house once again, occasionally stopping to see some of the other Pokémon that were being kept in the ranch play around with their friends and family.

Especially the ones that were raised and trained by his daughter.

Having made his way back into his house, he took off his cap and hung it on a nearby rack. He wiped some sweat from his forehead before a familiar sound came ringing into his ears.

_**"Ring-Ring-Ring! Ring-Ring-Ring! Phone Call! Phone Call! Ring-Ring-Ring!..."**_

He let out a small grunt of annoyance, one of these days he'll have to find a more _suitable ring tone_ for their home phone. Regardless, he picked up the receiver and held it near his ear, "Hello? You've reached the Soulhearts Ranch."

A mature but young voice spoke, "Hi... Dad?"

"Hey, Eliade!" the man pressed a button on the phone, making the screen in front of him turn on, revealing his daughter's face, along with her Miltank, "How's it going? Haven't received a call from you in a while. And hello to you, too, Beverly."

The man, now identified to be the father of Eliade, was known as Tony Soulhearts. He was a little over fifty years of age, understandable due to having a twenty-one-year-old daughter, but he still felt young and strong at heart. Because of this, he usually spends his time looking after the Soulhearts Ranch, mainly due to his, along with his family's, love of Pokémon.

To his surprise however, he noticed that his daughter didn't look too happy, her Miltank looking concerned, "I'm okay."

He didn't buy it, "What's up?"

"...This," she held up a Poké Ball, "It contains a Lucario."

"Go on," he gently urged her with a nod.

"...He's a Shiny Pokémon and..." his daughter sighed as he raised a brow, "...he was forced to leave his home, and went into the Poké Ball willingly just a few hours ago. ...Eldin hasn't come out since. Even if I wanted to send him out, he just won't..."

"Hmm..." Tony thought for a moment. Usually whenever Eliade was feeling stressed or needed help on knowing something, she would usually call him. Not wanting to fail her, he spoke, "Try getting him out again."

"All right," his daughter did as he suggested.

Opening the Poké Ball, to the surprise of everyone, the shiny Lucario had revealed himself. Tony noticed that the Lucario looked at him, or at least the screen on their end, very oddly. The older man rose a brow again, for he never seen a Pokémon like Eldin before. Despite this, he found this Pokémon fascinating.

"This is Eldin," Eliade said before turning to her Lucario while pointing at the screen, "This is my dad, Tony, he's all the way back in my homeland, Johto."

The golden-colored Lucario stared at Tony from across the screen, probably amazed at the technology that humans are able to use these days.

Tony made a nod with a smile in greeting, "I see, it's very nice to meet you, Eldin."

Eldin only nodded a little in response, his expression still unchanged from the time he started staring at the screen.

"Eliade's told me that you were forced to leave your home," Tony said as he took a nearby chair to sit down, knowing that the conversation is sure to be long.

Eldin stayed silent as Eliade told her father about the whole thing that had occurred on Iron Island. About the time when she met Eldin, the incident on Iron Island that caused her to capture him in the first place, and the rest of events that transpired afterwards. Tony only nodded throughout the whole explanation, taking the time to let the new knowledge sink in.

...

Eliade spent what seemed to be an hour explaining everything to her father, while Eldin was watching and listening silently. Even so, he has absolutely no intention into being with the pack anymore, he'd rather leave it behind and start a new life. Eliade had given him the opportunity, and he took it. He still didn't see why she should be upset.

"From what you're telling me," Eldin's ears perked up at the voice radiating from the computer, "I'm guessing it's because Eldin's just joined your team in a different way than all of your other Pokémon, in a rather sad way. I suggest you just give him and yourself some time."

"I see," Eliade nodded before rubbing her forehead with a small empty laugh, "I'm probably just a little wound up right now, what with the weird things and all."

"Don't worry about it, girl," her father spoke through the monitor, "I'm sure things will work out."

"I think it will," she nodded, she then smiled, "Thanks, Dad. I needed that."

"Hey, anytime," Tony said, "Just be sure to call me again once you reach Jubilife, all right?"

"Gotcha," Eliade had a thumbs up, having cheered up a little, "Bye, Dad!"

"See you in Jubilife," and with that, the image of Tony had disappeared from the screen and into blackness.

"Hoo..." Eliade let out a deep breath, "I needed that."

Letting the human get her bearings straight, Eldin and Beverly looked at each other. The Miltank shifted her eyes back to her Trainer, but didn't say anything as she watched her move away to Beau and pick up Jackson like a mother would. Thankfully, Eliade seemed to have cheered up a bit when she giggled at Jackson while the baby Pokémon was batting her stray bits of hair with his paws. Even Beau seemed to smile a little as Eliade rubbed the side of her head.

"Are you all right, Eldin?"

The Lucario turned his head towards Beverly, "...Yes. I am. I didn't mean to make her upset, really. I just don't want anything to do with that pack anymore."

"It's all right, I understand," the Miltank nodded, "She was just a little confused, but everything seems to have been straightened out," she then started to make her way back to the other Pokémon, "I think you should go to her again, maybe, you know... try to tell her that you intend on staying with us."

Eldin only tilted his head slightly. His interaction with humans were very limited, so he had no idea on what to do. Looking back at Eliade, though, he saw that she was still smiling while gently tickling the little Jackson, who squeaked happily in response. Taking in Beverly's words, Eldin slowly made his way towards her.

She took notice and looked at him, "Hey. Are you doing okay?"

Eldin only nodded as he watched Jackson, who was looking at him with large, bright red eyes. Beau said nothing as she looked on.

Eliade smiled when she lifted the tiny Riolu up a little, "Jackson, do you know who that is? That's Eldin. Remember?" the Riolu yipped a little in excitement, "That's right, he's the one who just recently joined us along with you. You're such a cute baby, yes you are," Eliade giggled a little as she was tickling Jackson again. Glancing at Eldin again, she gently grabbed his paw (which alarmed him a little) before holding it out to the Riolu.

"Rii rio!" Jackson squeaked as he happily grabbed Eldin's paw, batting at the spike in the process.

"I think he wants to play with you, Eldin," Eliade smiled before nodding at the two Aura Pokémon, "I'll leave you guys alone for now. Look after Jackson while I make the three of you some food. I've noticed that neither of you have eaten yet, and Jackson needs his milk again soon." And with that, she walked away with a small hum.

Silence loomed over the two Aura Pokémon. Beau said nothing as usual while she kept her attention solely on Jackson, who was looking up at her in response. Jackson gently pawed Beau's left shoulder, the one devoid of her arm. While Eldin raised a brow at Beau's shoulder, he was curious as to what had happened that caused that. He then remembered that the aura around her shoulder was unusually strong, could that have something to do with it? He snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Beau gently push Jackson away from her left shoulder, shaking her head.

"...He is rather playful, isn't he?" Eldin spoke to break the silence.

Beau turned her attention to him briefly before nodding.

_Well, this wasn't a good start._ Eldin thought to himself before looking at Jackson, who was now crawling towards him.

"Rii...!" the Riolu plopped himself against Eldin's side, "Ri Rii!"

Eldin couldn't help but smirk at the little one. After all, small ones are supposed to play almost all the time. Looking at Beau, he could've sworn that he saw a faint trace of a smile on her face, but disappeared almost instantly afterwards. Is it just Eldin's imagination, or is Beau being more quiet than usual? Then again, he cannot exactly assume that, considering that he has known her for only about two days. Part of him wished that she would just speak and say _something_, for he was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Ri ru!" Jackson suddenly went back to Beau and tugged her only arm, causing her to flinch a little, much to Eldin's surprise.

"Jackson..." she barely muttered while gently pushing him away, "No pulling... not the arm."

This was a first.

While Jackson didn't seem to understand the concept of not being allowed to pull on Beau's arm, he instead decided to do a small head butt against her side.

"I believe he only wishes for you to play with him," Eldin quietly spoke, causing Beau's ears to twitch. She made no comment, but she did nudge Jackson towards him. Jackson, looking a little annoyed, decided to squirm back to her lap, stubbornly wrapping his arms around Beau's waist. A very faint trace of amusement could be seen on Beau's face, but it disappeared quickly afterwards as she carefully pushed him away to Eldin. Apparently, Jackson seemed to have gotten the message, for he then squirmed to Eldin's side, pawing the spike on his right paw.

An amused giggle caught the attention of the two Aura Pokémon, making them both turn to see Eliade with an amused smile on her face, "I see you two are getting along just fine."

Looking at Beau, Eldin noticed that she didn't show any signs of her slight agitation from earlier. He then turned back to Eliade, who then picked up Jackson before speaking to the two Pokémon, "Come on, you guys. Your food's over here."

...

The next day came without any major events, other than Telos and Koki doing a slight spar before the Trainers stopped them. Eliade was quick to serve breakfast for the Pokémon this time, since Jackson didn't wake up early crying. Nonetheless, Eliade quickly fed Jackson with the warm Moomoo Milk as soon as he woke. Meanwhile, Alicia made breakfast for the two Trainers. Once all of that was over, all of the Pokémon except Eldin, Beau, and Jackson were recalled into their Poké Balls. This was fine for Eldin, for he preferred to stay out of his Poké Ball, anyway. He discovered moments later that Beau had the same opinion, causing Eldin to wonder if she only stayed out to be beside her Trainer at all times. This doesn't seem to bother the Coordinator, though, for she was always smiling at her friend and giving her a lot of attention. Despite all of the attention though, the one-armed female Lucario made little to no reaction other than leaning her head against her Trainer's arm.

About an hour later, once Eliade and Alicia finished looking over some things that was written on a notepad, everyone left the Pokémon Center to reach for the Gym.

"Okay, so once you beat the Gym Leader, Byron," Alicia thought out loud, "We'll be heading back to Jubilife City, right?"

"Yeah," Eliade nodded at her friend, "And then we'll call Dad to let him know we're there, like we always do every time we go to a city. After that, we'll be heading up north and then over to Snowpoint so we can get to your next contest about a month from now."

"The seventh Gym is also located there, so it's pretty convenient," Alicia nodded, "The only thing we'll need to remember is to get some warm clothing before we go up there."

Eliade only nodded as they continued on.

Eldin had already made the habit of staying close to his new... Trainer... whenever they're in a city, or any place that has a lot of humans around. More than once he would see a human give him a strange look, but he couldn't tell if it was a look of either admiration, greed, or even disgust. Whenever that happens, though, he would see Eliade look at him and give him a small smile before gently scratching his head. He felt a little better whenever she does that. Quickly glancing at Beau, with Jackson on top of her head, Eldin couldn't help but think that even though those two weren't related at all, they still look like mother and child.

Speaking of mothers... What exactly happened to Eliade's? He could vaguely recall Beverly, the kind hearted Miltank, look a little solemn whenever Eliade's mother was mentioned.

"Well, are you ready, Eliade?" Alicia's voice caught his attention as they all stopped walking, causing him to notice that they had arrived at the entrance to the Pokémon Gym.

Looking up at Eliade with a slightly nervous look on his face, she only smiled, "Don't worry, Eldin. You won't be battling in this Gym Battle. That will have to wait until we have an opportunity to train together and be in sync, all right?" Knowing this, Eldin nodded, and Eliade smiled, "That's good."

"From what I can see," Alicia spoke again with a smile on her face, "Byron uses Steel-type Pokémon, so Fire and Fighting-types should give you an advantage."

"Oh, yeah. Koki has both those types," the older Trainer looked up in thought, then suddenly brightened up, "Well! Time's a wasting! It's time for a Gym Battle!

...

"This is a battle between the Gym Leader Byron and the challenger, Eliade Soulhearts, from Olivine City! Only three Pokémon from each side are allowed to battle, and the Gym Leader may not use any substitutions!"

Roark was the referee for the upcoming match, as Eldin had noticed. He and the others were watching Eliade from the bleachers, the same ones they were in when they witnessed Alicia and Beau battle Riley and his Lucario just two days ago. Come to think of it, Eldin still had a hard time believing that Beau was able to defeat Riley's Lucario with just two attacks. Is Beau really that strong? Glancing at the one-armed female, who was leaning against Alicia's right side, he noticed that she was staring blankly at the battlefield.

"I can hardly wait for the battle to begin," Alicia giggled in excitement with Jackson in her lap, "You see, Jackson? You'll be seeing a Pokémon Battle for the first time."

Eliade unclipped a Poké Ball from her belt and threw it, "Okay, Louie! You're up!"

The Poké Ball burst open as a white light emerged from it. Settling itself onto the ground, the light materialized into the Lickilicky, who looked ready for battle. His long tongue was swishing a little back and forth, and his tail was wagging slightly. Eldin could tell that Louie was excited for this. Speaking of which, Eldin only saw Louie doing defensive-counter tactics with his Rollout attack, making him wonder how the Lickilicky will go through this.

Byron said something before throwing out a Poké Ball, which revealed a Bronzor. Eldin could barely recall seeing a few of those with those humans called "Galactic Grunts."

**"Let the battle begin!"** Roark called.

Byron made the first move, "All right, Bronzor! Use Confusion!"

The Bronzor glowed blue as another blue aura surrounded Louie, lifting him up in the air. Eliade looked a little concerned for her Lickilicky, but dismissed it with a glint in her eye, "Okay, Louie! Use your tongue!"

Louie seemed to understand which attack he was suppose to use, for he withdrew his tongue back into his mouth before thrusting it against the Bronzor, freeing him from the Confusion. Then, with a quick command from Eliade, the Lickilicky did a major Body Slam against his opponent, knocking it out.

"Bronzor is unable to battle!" Roark raised a flag towards Eliade, "Lickilicky is the winner!"

"Whoa, already?" Alicia blinked as she and the others looked amazed, "I guess that explains why Eliade used to make him hit all of those hard rocks she kept finding outside Canalave..."

Byron seemed proud of his Bronzor as he recalled it into it's Poké Ball, "You did pretty good for your first battle, we'll train more latter, little guy." Taking out another Poké Ball, he threw it, "All right, Steelix!"

A giant iron snake emerged from the white light that suddenly increased in size, causing Eldin and the others to look at the Iron Snake Pokémon in awe. From what Eldin could see, that Steelix looks incredibly strong.

**"GO!"**

The Steelix heard a command from Byron to use an Iron Tail against Louie, who narrowly dodged it by using a Rollout. The tip of the large pink Pokémon's long tongue suddenly glowed and slammed it against the Steelix's side, showing that a Focus Punch (more like a Focus _Tongue_) had just landed successfully.

"Wow! A direct hit!" Alicia exclaimed as Jackson cheered. Eldin was impressed while Beau remained the same.

However, the Steelix looked like it didn't take that much damage, since it just performed an Iron Tail on its own accord, which Louie narrowly dodged with the help of another Rollout. However, this didn't help much, for the Steelix then landed another Iron Tail on the ground, this time slamming Louie away.

"Louie? !" Eliade turned to the direction her Lickilicky was thrown at. Sure enough, the poor Licking Pokémon was out cold.

Roark raised a flag towards his father, "Lickilicky is unable to battle! Steelix is the winner!"

While Eldin was a little concerned for the Licking Pokémon, he saw that Eliade was looking concerned yet proud. Instead of just pulling out her Poké Ball to recall him, the human walked over to her fallen friend and rubbed his head, the Licking Pokémon looking up to her.

"You were great, Louie," Eldin could barely hear her whisper as she held out a Poké Ball, "You take a good long rest, okay?" The Poké Ball then shot out a thin red beam, sucking the large Pokémon back into the small ball. With a smile, Eliade clipped Louie's Poké Ball back onto her belt before unclipping another.

As she took the time to walk back to her spot in the battlefield, Eldin looked at Alicia and Beau. Alicia was tickling Jackson a little to entertain him while Beau only looked on. It took a moment for the female Lucario to notice that Eldin was staring at her general direction, causing her to look back at him. This, in turn, made Eldin realize that this is one of the very few times that he would actually be in the center of Beau's current attention. Looking at each other in the eye for a moment, Beau broke her gaze and turned back to Alicia, leaning her head against her Trainer's arm, which caught her attention.

When Alicia realized that it was only Beau, she gently placed a hand on the Aura Pokémon's head as Jackson shifted into a more comfortable position in Alicia's lap.

"Hey, Beau," she smiled as she rubbed her friend's head, "It's all right, I'm still here."

Eldin's ears tilted a little, what did the human mean by that? Did Beau think that Alicia was going to abandon her? That can't be right, for he remembered Beverly saying that they were very close friends... was there something that prevented Beau from trusting her all the way? Then again, Eldin mused to himself, he didn't exactly trust Eliade that much, either. He was willing to give her a chance, yes, but he couldn't trust her completely until she proves herself, which so far she has done.

"Koki! You're up!"

Everyone snapped their attention back to Eliade as she threw the Poké Ball she was holding earlier, which revealed the slightly hot-headed Infernape. The red hot flame danced atop his head as the Flame Pokémon moved his arms in a 'bring it on' manner. A small puff of flame flew out of Koki's mouth. Everyone could tell that the fire monkey was excited.

**"GO!"** Roark's voice rang throughout the battlefield.

"All right, Steelix! Use Iron Tail!"

The Iron Snake Pokémon did what its Trainer told as it tried to slam its glowing tail at Koki, but with a quick command from Eliade, the Infernape easily dodged it and countered with a Flamethrower.

"Whoa!" Alicia exclaimed as did the others near her, "That's a direct hit! And a Steelix is never good whenever it's hit by a special Fire attack."

"Sandstorm!" Byron's voice rang out excitedly, causing Eliade to instantly place her hand into her bag, taking out a pair of goggles and putting them on.

Alicia, hearing the Sandstorm warning, quickly urged Eldin and Beau while carrying Jackson as she moved back, "Come on, we'd better get farther away from the field."

The Steelix then straightened itself like a tall tower before it started rotating rapidly, causing a large tornado of sand to appear around it.

"Oh dear," Eliade blinked as she adjusted her goggles while keeping an eye on the battlefield, "Hey, Koki! Sandstorm Counter No. 2! Blast it with fire!"

"Oh dear Arceus, she is NOT serious, is she?" Alicia's eye twitched as she and the three Pokémon stood behind a protective barrier that was a little farther away from where they originally were. The younger Trainer sighed a little as she held Jackson protectively to serve a little more protection from any stray bits of sand.

Eldin, having no idea what Alicia was talking about, only rose a brow at the human next to him. Looking back and the Infernape, he saw the Flame Pokémon taking a deep breath before expelling an unusually large amount of fire from his mouth before it suddenly branched into five, hitting the sand tornado containing the Steelix. He rose a brow, what in the world are those two _doing?_

"Keep at it, Koki! Don't let that big iron snake get you!" Eliade spat out some sand.

While most Fire-Type Pokémon would usually quiver whenever they're in a Sandstorm, the Infernape didn't seem to be bothered by it. In fact, his Flamethrower seemed to increase in strength.

"Steelix, go underground!"

The sound of Byron's voice must've narrowly reached the Steelix, since the human had to say his command at least three times before it could do what it was told. Koki looked around rather frantically, for he had no idea where the Steelix could strike next.

Feeling a little curious, Eldin closed his eyes and read the aura that was around the battlefield. To his surprise, Eliade's aura, while already flaring normally, was flaming about even more in the battlefield. He was able to find Koki's outline in the reading, and under the ground, right below the fire monkey, was a long thin and slightly spiky line of aura. The Steelix.

**"EARTHQUAKE!"**

* * *

**My writing for Pokémon battles stink... and as soon as I finish the Gym and get them out of Canalave City, I am so going to continue this... I hope. I would've continued the battle, but I decided to end it here just to leave a little cliffhanger.**

**Eliade's father Tony, like the two main Trainers here, was also based off of one of the Trainers I made in PBR. A Muscle Man C, wearing that white and dark blue outfit. To those who've played the Johto games, you remember the field full of Miltank just up north of Olivine City? That's where the Soulhearts Ranch is located. The name "Soulhearts" is obviously derived from _Heart_Gold and _Soul_Silver, which both take place in Johto. If you've paid close attention to what everyone was saying here, you will notice that Alicia first mentions "Mister Tony" in Chapter Two.**

**Alicia's hometown will be revealed in the next chapter. Want to guess? Here's a hint to narrow things down, it's also in Johto, but not in Olivine or New Bark Town.**

**Oh yeah, and in case you forgot about Alicia saying "Yattoko" in the previous chapter, that was a rather vague reference to the manga adaptation of Zelda: The Minish Cap. When Link comes across the Picori in the mountains, the Picori miners sing that chant. I found it amusing, so I decided to use it.**

**By the way, you may have noticed that sometimes the ! and ? are spaced out at the end of some sentences instead of being together. That was deliberate, because for some reason, Fanfiction (dot) net has a small formatting program in it that can't make the ! and ? appear together, since it will make the latter symbol disappear. I'm sure some of the older member can tell that quite a fair few fanfics have been ruined by this.**

**...I think I should mention that most (if not all) of the Trainers that will appear in this fanfic will be based off the ones I've made in PBR.**

**Happy New Year, everyone. 2011 here we come.**


	6. Brief Separation

**Augh... I meant to put this thing up last week, but then college work had to bring its ugly head in. Anyway, since I'm attending college right now, this thing won't be updated as much. I'll try to update this monthly, but I can't promise that.**

**By the way, I've been considering it, but I currently have two ideas for possible upcoming works, **_**Never Black and White**_** and **_**Double Teacher Trouble**_**, in my profile page. If you have the time, try looking at their brief summaries and tell me what you think of them in your reviews.**

**Another thing I should point out is that this chapter is fairly short, but I promise that the next chapter will be longer. But hey, it's better than nothing, right?**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

* * *

The ground suddenly shook.

_**"Augh!"**_ Alicia suddenly grabbed Beau and held both her and Jackson in a protective embrace while watching the battle. Eldin, meanwhile, stood up, trying to maintain his balance, though it was rather hard to do since the shaking made his head pound.

All of a sudden the Steelix shot out from the ground, roaring in pain before collapsing to the ground.

"Uh..." As the Earthquake attack calmed down, Roark blinked at the sight before raising a flag on Eliade's side, "...Steelix is unable to battle! Infernape is the winner!"

"Wee hee hee hee heh heh heh," Eliade look like she was either dizzy or drunk, for she was making some clumsy footsteps in an attempt to keep her balance, "Bets youse didn'ts expects Koki to use some Earthquakes, yes? Lulz, I can has victories now?"

"I told her _more than once_ that she _shouldn't_ have taught Koki how to use Earthquake," Alicia let out a shaky and exasperated breath as she let Beau and Jackson (who both were a little dizzy) go, "But **NO**, she doesn't even _take extra safety measures_. One of these days it's gonna _take out her brain_, man."

Eldin massaged his head a little in hopes of getting rid of the slight headache. Looking at the Infernape, he saw that the Flame Pokémon had scratched the back of his head with an apologetic look on his face. When Koki turned to look at Eliade, he merely blinked at her disoriented form, then looked at everyone else with an wry grin and shrug as Byron recalled his Steelix.

Eliade laughed strangely a little more before shaking her head and rubbing it with her eyes tightly closed, "Ow... Okay, maybe the Earthquake was a bad idea... Note to self, _never_ use Earthquake when you're standing on the _same ground_ as the user..." she raised her arm, "Okay, I'm ready for the next Pokémon, sir."

"All righty," Byron grinned as he threw the Poké Ball containing his last Pokémon "Go, Bastiodon!"

The Poké Ball bursted open, revealing the Shield Pokémon seconds afterwards.

"Koki, are you still up and at?" Eliade called out with half open eyes. When the Infernape nodded, Eliade smiled, "'Atta, boy."

Roark, knowing that this was his cue, smiled and raised both of the flags in his hands, "Let the battle begin! **GO!**"

"All right, Koki!" Eliade dramatically pointed at the Bastiodon, "Use Brock Break! Ack...!" she sputtered her tongue, "I mean... Brick Break!"

Koki rolled his eyes in amusement before running straight towards the Bastiodon as his hands glowed white.

"Iron Defense!" Byron commanded in excitement.

The Bastiodon's head suddenly glinted silver a little before Koki's Brick Break connected. A loud clang was heard, but Koki winced slightly before jumping away with an irritated look on his face. Looks like this wasn't going to be easy.

Eliade pinched the bridge of her nose while thinking deeply and concentrating on the battle. Iron Defense reduces the damages from Physical attacks, so if Koki were to try using Special attacks... It's a little inaccurate, but...

"Koki! Focus Blast!"

Eldin could've sworn that he saw Byron pale slightly at the sound of whatever the attack that Eliade mentioned was. His question was instantly answered when he saw Koki glow a slight golden color as a large ball of energy gathered up in front of him. The Infernape roared as he then unleashed the ball of pure power at the Bastiodon.

"Bastiodon!" Byron called out, "Protect!"

A glowing blue shield of some sort surrounded the Bastiodon just before the Focus Blast hit. Of course, that didn't prevent the Bastiodon escaping unscathed, since the force of the attack forcibly moved it against a wall, narrowly missing Byron. With a quick pep talk from Byron, the Bastiodon got up quickly but a little shakily.

"Metal Burst!"

The Bastiodon glowed white as it opened its mouth and shot out a silvery-white ball of light at Koki.

"All right!" Eliade smirked as her eyes glinted through her goggles, "Just what I needed! Koki!" she pointed at the ball, "Fire Punch at maximum power!"

Koki smirked as well as his right fist suddenly bursted into flames, the heat was actually so intense that Alicia and the others could feel the heat from where they were at. How Eliade was able to tolerate it since she was the closest was a mystery.

"BURN!" Eliade sang as she gave an overly excited smirk. And of course, the Bastiodon, Byron, Roark, Eldin, and Alicia all paled as Koki slammed (rather brutally) his fiery fist against the Metal Burst attack, ramming it against the Bastiodon. A very large explosion of gray smoke occurred just as the Bastiodon was rammed against the wall just behind it.

When the smoke cleared, it showed the Bastiodon lying against the ground.

"...Bastiodon is unable to battle!" Roark raised a flag towards Eliade's side, "Infernape is the winner! The winner is Eliade Soulhearts from Olivine City!"

"All right!" Eliade jumped once in victory, "That was awesome, Koki! AWESOME!"

"She's twenty-one, and here she is acting like a little kid," Alicia gave a dry laugh.

Eldin only blinked.

* * *

"I must say, that was a rather interesting and intense battle."

Right now everyone was outside the Gym with the sun starting to set.

Eliade nodded, "I know, your Bastiodon was pretty tough. I had a good time, and so did my Pokémon, I'm sure."

"As proof of your victory, you deserve this," Byron held out a small circular coin-like piece of metal, "The Mine Badge."

"Thank you," Eliade took the badge and placed it in her badge case, "Now I only have two more badges to go in order to get into the Pokémon League."

"Good luck," Byron nodded, "I look forward to watching you compete there."

"Okay," Eliade then turned to Alicia and the Aura Pokémon, "Well, guys, ready to get a move on?"

"Yep!" Alicia nodded as she held Jackson while Eldin and Beau only watched, "Any time you are!"

"Be careful out there, you two," Roark nodded.

"We will," the two Trainers then started to walk their way to the ferry, "Bye!"

* * *

Eldin gripped the guard rails with his paws as the breathed in some of the salty air. This was the first time he was on a boat, the trip that Eliade took to get to Iron Island with him in tow didn't exactly count considering that he was inside the Poké Ball. He looked at the water and the bits of land they passed by, he never saw anything this beautiful and green...

"I see you're enjoying yourself, Eldin," the Lucario looked at his Trainer. Chuckling, Eliade scratched him between the ears, "I know, it's always a lot of fun to see things like this."

He looked at the other Pokémon who were sitting in a circle, all of them talking to each other, telling jokes to each other, sharing stories...

His eyes wandered to Beau, who also sat in the circle, but only listened in with Jackson in her lap. She didn't show much reaction to anything except for the tiny Riolu's squeaks. With a bit of prodding from Eliade, Eldin reluctantly joined the circle.

"Hey, Eldin! Glad you could join us!"

Telos was the to say the greeting while the others looked at him.

"Come on! Join us! Dipper's telling us about some of his past adventures!"

Seeing that the Pokémon wouldn't let him leave, Eldin quietly complied as he sat next to Beau and Jackson.

Telos then turned back to the Ursaring, "Okay, so you went up against that Gym Leader Morty's Haunter, right?"

"Yes," Dipper's voice was rather gruff, but it did have a good quality into it, "It wasn't really easy going up against Ghost-types, considering the fact that I am a Normal-Type, and that I was still a Teddiursa at the time. I was able to win after my second attempt."

Eldin listened in with interest, so Dipper went up against a Gym Leader, too. Eventually, knowing Eliade, since he is now a member of her team, he might go up against a Gym Leader someday.

"So how did you win?" Ashley, the West Sea Gastrodon, asked.

Dipper smirked a little, "Eliade helped me learn how to use Payback with a TM66 about a month before I went into that battle."

Hearing Eliade's name, Eldin reluctantly asked, "I though Alicia was your Trainer...?"

The Ursaring had a slightly surprised look on his face, but nodded a tad, "Eliade became Alicia's traveling partner about three months after she became a Trainer. We first met her at the Ecruteak Pokémon Center after my first loss against Morty. This was still in the Johto region of course."

"I... see," Eldin blinked. This proved that Eliade and Alicia have known each other for a long time.

"I have to say that he was a such a cute little Teddiursa," Beverly chuckled, "He was very eager to learn Payback when Eliade taught it to him."

"Even though I don't use it as much as I used to, now that I've learned how to use Night Slash."

Turning to Beau, Eldin saw that she seemed to have already known this. But this left one question: How long as she been in Alicia's team? He did consider asking, but decided against it. It might be better to ask her alone, or possibly Dipper or Beverly, since they're the oldest out of everyone here, and just in case Beau chooses not to answer.

Beau was still gently rubbing Jackson's curled up frame while listening in, the tiny Riolu still silent but awake. When Jackson turned his gaze towards Eldin, the Lucario gently placed a paw on Jackson's head, causing the Riolu to raise his own paw and grasp Eldin's. This seemed to have triggered something, however, since Beau gently placed him next to Eldin before standing up and walking away. The other Pokémon paused for a moment, but when they saw her walk up to Alicia, they continued on as usual. Feeling a little miffed at the fact that Beau left without much of a word, Eldin let Jackson sit on his shoulder, keeping his paw around the small Pokémon to keep him from falling off, and walked over to Beau and Alicia.

Alicia turned her attention towards Eldin while Beau leaned her head against her Trainer's shoulder, "Oh, hey Eldin. Do you need something?"

Eldin only turned his attention at Beau while setting Jackson down. Apparently, Jackson doesn't like being away from Beau, since he quickly scrambled to lean on Beau's side. When Alicia saw that Beau was trying to gently push him away, she picked him up and cuddled him. "Please forgive her, Eldin," Alicia quietly spoke as she placed a hand on Beau's head, "She's... not very used to socializing, ever since she was a Riolu."

Eldin blinked, so Beau was with Alicia since she was a Riolu? Was she with her Trainer since birth as well? Eldin sighed a little, since he won't be getting any answers, he went over to his own Trainer, Eliade. She didn't question him, and that was fine with him. His mind then drifted off into deep thought.

"You seem a little upset."

"Hm?" Eldin turned his attention over to Beverly. When did she get there?

"Is something the matter?" The Miltank sat down next to him, "You can tell me."

After a moment of slight hesitation, he sighed, "It's Beau."

"Her silent treatment getting to you?" she didn't seem surprised.

"Why is she like that? And how long has she been with Alicia?" Those were the two main questions he had in mind for the moment.

Beverly was silent for a moment, "I... cannot exactly say what caused her to be like that, but I can tell you one thing, she's been with Alicia ever since she was a Riolu."

"I gathered that from Alicia herself," Eldin said, "Was she with her since birth like Jackson?"

"No," Beverly shook her head, "Alicia found her when she and Eliade went to Jubilife City for the first time."

"Jubilife... isn't that where we're going to now?"

"Yes, and as you can probably see. She... doesn't like that place."

"How did Alicia find her?" Now Eldin was getting curious.

"Alicia... found her in an alleyway where it wasn't exactly very healthy to be at. It was very difficult, according to Alicia, apparently it took her about six hours just to get Beau into the Jubilife City Pokémon Center."

_She was that uncooperative?_ Eldin thought, but decided to change the subject slightly, "Is she... happy here?"

"That," Beverly paused again to come up with a proper answer, "Is a bit hard for me to answer, for even I don't know, she seems to be so far. In the past, she wouldn't even get _close_ to Alicia. Alicia loves her dearly, though, I think it's because of that that Beau has finally allowed herself to get into physical contact with her Trainer. Even though it's not much, Alicia is happy that Beau is even willing to be close to her. Sadly, though, it doesn't stop her from being concerned about..." Beverly trailed off.

"About...?" Eldin waited for her to answer.

"...I'm not at liberty to speak about that," she shook her head and stood up, before walking away, she then spoke, "If you really want to know, you should ask Beau yourself."

Eldin remained silent as he let the words sink into his mind. He might as well do the things he considered earlier: Getting his answers from Beau herself.

He tensed as he suddenly felt a cool hand touch his head, only to realize that it was Eliade. Looking up at her, he saw that she was only subconsciously scratching his ears while thinking of something. When Eliade turned her attention to Eldin, she only gave a small smile before going back to stare at the ocean from the boat.

"We'll be in Jubilife in about an hour."

* * *

THIS is Jubilife?

Eldin looked up at all of the buildings that were there. There were many of them in such different shapes and sizes... One of them looked like it could connect anywhere in the world. Tall buildings, short buildings, small, thin, wide... Eldin was beginning to feel dizzy from all of this.

"First time being in a city, eh?" Eldin looked at the Infernape next to him, "Don't worry, as far as I know, Jubilife City is the largest city here in Sinnoh."

"Really?" Eldin blinked with an ear tilted slightly. All of the other Pokémon, except for Koki, Jackson, and Beau, have been recalled into their Poké Balls shortly after they've arrived to Jubilife. Jackson was currently on Eliade's head, like how a baby would ride on its parent, while Beau was still with Alicia, her paw gently gripping her Trainer's arm.

Koki looked up into the sky, the flame on his head moving about in the light breeze, "Truth be told, when I first came here when I was just a Chimchar, I had the same reaction you had just there."

"I see."

"Huh? Beau? What's the matter?"

Both Koki and Eldin looked over to where Alicia and Beau were, and they saw that Beau looked rather... uncomfortable. She still had the same expression she is usually seen with, but her figure looked more tense than usual, and her only paw was twitching slightly.

"Do you have any idea why she's like that?" Eldin whispered to Koki.

"I don't know the details, but I do know that Beau was found here. I'm sure Beverly already told you that, though."

"She did."

"All I can say is that she doesn't like this city. Not sure why, though. She never told us."

Looking at Beau again, Eldin saw that she was shaking _very_ slightly. Just what happened to her here in Jubilife? Whatever the reason, both Eliade and Alicia seemed to know why, and possibly Beverly, too. But since none of them is going to say anything about it, Eldin figured that Beau will also refuse to say anything. Just...

..._What_ in the world _happened?_

_"Uh oh! __**Guys!**__"_

Suddenly a large swarm of people rushed by them, and instant chaos occurred. As soon as Eldin lost sight of Koki and Eliade, he began to panic. Despite the chaos, he noticed an alleyway nearby, and while trying to push his way through the random swarm of people, he suddenly saw a Pokémon's arm desperately reaching out for something. Grabbing it, Eldin was able to bring himself and the Pokémon he grabbed to safety. When he turned to look at the Pokémon behind him... he noticed that he grabbed Beau away from the sudden chaos.

"Sorry," he quickly let go of her arm.

Instead of looking irritated, she instead looked a little confused as she stared at her only paw before looking around the alleyway they were in. All of a sudden she gripped her left shoulder, as if it was in pain. Her shaking was actually a bit more visible than it was before. She looked around again, this time a little more frantically.

"...Alicia...?"

Eldin's ears twitched, was that Beau speaking? This was a little awkward, since he was so used to seeing her being all quiet, "Are... you all right?"

Beau reacted almost instantly with a twitch, her paw still gripping her shoulder. Slowly turning her attention to him, she actually looked... _frightened_... Hoping to calm her down, Eldin gently placed a paw over her own. This time, she flinched, an actual flinch, much to Eldin's surprise. Disregarding it for the moment, he was figuring on how he should find the others once the stream of humans clear out. Then he remembered Eliade's Aura signature. Since Beau is also a Lucario, she should be able to find Alicia easily... Eldin never recalled trying to read Alicia's Aura signature.

As soon as he lifted his paw away from Beau, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the Aura around him. Sure enough, he could see Eliade's flaming Aura since it was the strongest out of everything out there. He could tell that she was a little farther away than usual, but she was still close by.

"Beau, do you know Alicia's Aura signature?" Eldin asked her.

"...t..." she mumbled something.

"What?" Eldin rose a brow.

"... can't..."

"You can't what?"

Beau looked away, looking ashamed, and Eldin could clearly tell that she wasn't used to speaking a lot, "I... can't... use Aura..."

Eldin blinked, "...What?"

Beau shook her head, apparently having calm down, but only slightly, "I cannot use Aura."

"Why not?"

She didn't say anything as she tightened the grip on her shoulder. Finally, she spoke, "I hate this place... where's Alicia...?"

_This_... was a first. First she was all quiet an emotionless, now she's shivering in terror. Eldin narrowed his eyes slightly as he realized something, without Alicia, Beau doesn't know what to do whenever she's alone.

_"She's had... quite a rough life before she started staying with us."_

Beverly's words echoed in Eldin's mind. The same question from earlier formed again in his mind. What in the world happened to her? What could have been so traumatizing that caused Beau to be cut off even from her own teammates? Or even from Alicia in that matter? He mentally smacked himself for being a little insensitive in his opinion. Hoping to calm her down, he placed a paw over her own.

"While I do not know where Alicia is, I can easily find Eliade by sensing her Aura." When Beau looked at him, a little confused, Eldin continued, "If we find Eliade, we'll find Alicia, I promise. However," his grip tightened slightly, "Unlike you, I do not know my way around this city."

Beau blinked.

"You do know your way around here, do you not?"

Instead of nodding, she weakly spoke, "...Yes."

Blinking in surprise, Eldin's ears went up a bit. Regardless, he smiled slightly, "Good."

It was then the two Aura Pokémon noticed that the sudden swarm of humans had suddenly died down. Reluctantly, Beau looked out in the main streets from the alley. Turning to Eldin, she slowly pointed to the north, "There's... a Pokémon Center up this way... If we... go there..."

"Then lead the way," Eldin finished for her.

Reluctantly nodding, Beau quickly ran off with Eldin following. While he was a bit puzzled on why she dashed like that, but decided to deal with it since it's already a proven fact that she hates being inside Jubilife City. The sooner she either gets out of this "hellhole" as Eldin might put it, or the sooner they find Eliade (and hopefully Alicia), the better.

Dodging numerous confused, startled, and possibly a few angry humans, Beau and Eldin eventually reached the Pokémon Center of Jubilife City. Beau looked around frantically, wondering where Alicia is while Eldin closed his eyes and focused on the Aura around him. A large amount of flaming aura was nearby... was it Eliade's? Looking behind him after opening his eyes...

"Eldin!"

"Beau!"

Alicia ran over to Beau immediately, wrapping her with her arms. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that, Beau," she comforted, "It's okay now. It's all right. You don't need to be afraid..."

Eliade, holding Jackson in her arms, meanwhile, looked at Eldin with a concerned look, "Are you all right?" When he nodded in response, she smiled, "I'm glad."

Eldin, however, was focusing his attention on Beau, who looked shaken to the core. Alicia had a very concerned look on her face before holding her beloved friend to her chest, gently caressing Beau's head with her hand.

"I hope we don't come across a Houndour or a Houndoom here..." Eldin heard Eliade mutter.

Now he was confused, what exactly is so bad about a Houndour or a Houndoom? ...Well, then again, he didn't exactly have any _good_ memories from those kinds of Pokémon, either. Since the woman who tried so many times to capture him back on Iron Island with her Houndoom _was_ rather annoying, and the Houndour from that Galactic Grunt also gave him some chilling reminders. He snorted slightly, burns are never fun.

Wait...

Looking at Beau, and taking Eliade's comment to her herself in consideration... was Beau afraid of them, too? He then remembered the Houndoom that was with that rotten woman. Beau most definitely saw it at the Pokémon Center in Canalave City, but Eldin doesn't recall Beau ever reacting to the Houndoom's presence... or did she?

_Jackson's crying..._

Jackson cried when the shrill voice of that rotten woman rang into their ears. Was Beau trying to calm Jackson down while trying to ignore the Houndoom? He might have to ask her later, but he doesn't think that he has the heart to do so right now.

"Oh yeah, Alicia," Eliade's voice brought everyone's attention to her, "I found out what that huge crowd of people was about. And it's understandable if you were among them."

"Huh?" Alicia was confused, "Why would I be among them? What was with that crowd, anyway?"

Eliade pulled out a purple-colored flyer from her pocket and unfolded it, "I believe _this_ will answer everything."

Alicia looked at the flyer as her eyes widened with a smile, "All right! A contest!" Suddenly her face mellowed out a bit as she looked at the poster again, "Wait... what kind of Contest of this? The Melissa Cup...?"

* * *

**Bonus points to anyone who gets the name of the Melissa Cup.**

**Again, I'm sorry that this chapter is shorter than usual, but I'm having a hard time to make this one longer without spoiling a certain part of the future plot. I would've made more interactions between Eldin and Eliade's Pokémon, but I felt that that would've been a bit redundant. So... yeah.**

**So we get to Beau a little more, and now we learn that Beau can't use her Aura powers, but that doesn't explain how she lost her left arm. But I will tell you one thing: No, she did NOT lose it in a battle. There's actually a very vague hint as to how she lost it in one of the chapters here so far. Even so, I'd like to hear your theories, I'm having a lot of fun reading them, and I'm sure the other readers enjoy them as well.**

**You know the part at the beginning with Earthquake? That was to poke some fun out of Pokémon Battle Revolution. For those of you who've played it, do you remember the animation graphics used for the move Earthquake? The broken stones will actually go RIGHT THROUGH the Trainer(s) with absolutely no ill effects. How the heck is that even possible? Maybe that's why we rarely see Earthquake in the anime... It would've been hilarious if the Trainers in PBR reacted differently depending on the move.**

**By the way, I've preordered both Black and White. I'm planning on getting Oshawott in Black and name him Tony. In White, I'll select Snivy and named him Salazar. If they ever make a third game (it might be called Gray, I don't know), I'll get Tepig and name him Lloyd. What about you?**

**I don't have anything else to say, so bye for now.**


	7. On the Way to Oreburgh

**Welp, this thing has thirty reviews now, can't hold back my word on that. . . and it took you all about seven months to do that. That's just sad, man. _SAD_. Maybe this is why most well written fanfics I find tend to be abandoned? I wouldn't know.**

**I'm still miffed that I have to keep the ! and ? separate on the end of sentences. . . makes them look awkward.**

**As I'm pretty sure some of you have noticed, the big explosion that was shown in the games shortly after you beat Byron? I left that out on purpose, you'll see why in the future. Also, I don't plan on having Eliade and the team get involved with Team Galactic much. Why? Again, you'll find out later.**

**I might just update this montly or something from now on. That is, IF college doesn't get in the way too often, and hopefully the chapters will be a little more longer afterwards.**

**Have fun, everybody.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: ****On the Way to Oreburgh**

* * *

"The Melissa Cup?"

Alicia looked at the purple flyer with confusion, while she was excited about the fact that it was a contest, it wasn't until she read some of the fine print did her eyes widen.

"Th... This Contest is being hosted by _Fantina? !_" Alicia blinked.

Eliade, shifting Jackson to a more manageable position in her left arm, took the flyer and read it out loud, _"'Sinnoh Gym Leader Fantina, also known as The Alluring Soulful Dancer, has recently announced that she will be hosting and judging the Melissa Cup. The winner will receive the special Phantomhive Ribbon, which will count for any Grand Festival, including the Sinnoh Grand Festival. The Melissa Cup will take place inside the Contest Arena located in Hearthome City."_ Eliade then looked at the date, "Hm... it says here that the Contest will take place in about a week from now."

"Come on, Eliade, can we go there? Please?" Alicia looked pumped, "I've always wanted to meet Fantina!"

"Hmm..." Eliade pursed her lips, "I don't know, there's that other Contest in Snowpoint that you wanted to go to next month, and it will take about two weeks to get there, so... we'll be cutting it close. Especially since we'll have to cross Mt. Coronet to get from Celestic Town to Snowpoint City."

"So, can we go to Hearthome?" Alicia looked hopeful, _"Please?"_

Eliade looked at her friend for a moment and smiled, "All right, we'll go. I've been wanting to see Fantina again, anyway."

"All right!" Alicia hugged Beau, who only stared at her, "Do you hear that? We're going to Hearthome!"

Eldin only blinked, since he has no idea what Hearthome City is like. Judging from what Eliade said earlier, though, it sounded like she's been there before. Looking up at Eliade again, he saw that she handed the flyer back to Alicia before cuddling Jackson to calm the Riolu down a little. Looking at Beau, Eldin saw that she still looked a bit shaken, but has calmed down a bit, much to his relief.

All of a sudden Beau shifted her attention to him while clinging to Alicia's right arm, which was wrapped around her shoulders. When Eldin was about to say something, Beau closed her eyes and looked away, as if she was ashamed.

_Could it have been caused by the fact that she cannot use Aura?_ Eldin thought to himself. While he did find it strange, he found it fascinating as well, especially since Beau was the first Lucario to go through such a predicament. Then again, Eldin knew that Beau was plenty powerful enough even without her Aura abilities, the battle she had against Riley's Lucario has proven that. And yet, why does she look so upset?

...Or was she afraid?

"It's all right Beau. It's okay," Alicia said soothingly as soon as she sensed Beau's tension, "I'm here."

Beau didn't make a sound.

Alicia, knowing the problem, turned to the older Trainer, "I don't think we should spend too much time here, Eliade."

"I understand," Eliade looked to a random direction, "If we keep going Route 203 East for a few hours, we'll eventually reach Oreburgh City, which is almost half way to Heathome City, but the arrival time will be fairly late. We'll rest there in Oreburgh's Pokémon Center for the night, and then cut through Mt. Coronet in order to reach Hearthome. That way you will have plenty of time to practice for the Melissa Cup. Fair enough?"

"Sounds good," Alicia nodded, "Though we should get some supplies first, I'm almost out of food for Ashley."

It took Eldin a moment to realize that Ashley was Alicia's West Sea Gastrodon. Then again, he never had the chance to interact with her much, mostly he would hang around either Beau, Koki, or Beverly. Well, Telos and Dipper are really nice Pokèmon, but that doesn't stop Telos from being bit of a hothead. Eldin didn't mind Louie, but the Licking Pokémon is fairly dense. As for Jackson... Eldin looked at the tiny Riolu and saw that he already fell asleep in Eliade's gentle hold.

"All right," Eliade handed Jackson over to Beau, "In that case, I'll go to the store and get what we need. Alicia, you stay in the Pokémon Center and look after Eldin and Jackson."

"Leave it to me," Alicia smiled.

Eliade smiled back as she tossed her partner a bottle of milk, "All right, be sure to feed that to Jackson while I'm gone."

Alicia complied before leading Eldin and the others into the Pokémon Center. There, Eldin saw numerous types of Pokémon that he had never seen before, one looked like a blue and black lion with some yellow features, which then looked back at him with its piercing yellow eyes.

Eldin immediately turns away from it and sees another strange Pokémon. It looked like a large pile of blue vines and two long arms with red finger tips, and its feet was barely visible. He then saw another one that looked a black and grey dog with a thin face, its black tail swishing about as its Trainer was talking to it.

He then turned to Alicia and saw that she was carefully scanning the Pokémon around her, as is she was searching for one in particular. After a moment, her eyes widened slightly and she get out a worried grunt. It wasn't until he looked at Alicia's direction did he realize what Alicia was so concerned about.

A Houndoom.

Alicia held Beau closer to her and led the others as far away from the Houndoom as possible. When Eldin turned to look at the Houndoom, he saw that it was staring right back at him. Fortunately, the Houndoom made no attempt to attack and simply turned back to its Trainer, who was a man probably around middle-age. Alicia, seeing that the Houndoom is a fairly safe distance away, took out her Poké Balls and sent out her three Pokémon: Telos, Ashley, and Dipper.

Dipper let out a great, big yawn before stretching himself. Licking his teeth, the Hibernation Pokémon quickly made himself comfortable by lying on the floor. Ashley only moved closer to her Trainer and just remained there while staring into space. As for Telos, the shiny Gallade only leaned against the wall and looked around; he had to keep his guard up, after all.

Alicia looked at the Houndoom again before cuddling Beau close, "It's all right, girl. That Houndoom won't hurt you. If something happens, I'll protect you. Okay?"

Beau only clung onto Alicia's white sleeve as Jackson hopped up on her head.

Alicia only sighed as she gently rubbed the side of Beau's head, "I need to feed Jackson now."

It was then that Beau reluctantly released her Trainer's arm, allowing the human to pick up the bottle of milk Eliade had tossed to her earlier. Alicia plucked Jackson off from Beau's head with a grin before preparing the milk, "Here you go, you little sucker."

Leaving Alicia and Jackson alone, Eldin was quietly observing the other Pokèmon inside the building. Unfortunately, he had a hard time identifying most of them.

"Hey, Eldin."

Eldin turned his head and saw the West Sea Gastrodon make her way towards him. It took Eldin a moment to remember her name, "You are... Ashley, right?"

"Yup!" Ashley smiled in the way a Gastrodon would before looking around, "It's _amazing _that there's so many different kinds of Pokèmon out there, you know?"

"I suppose."

"That one over there is a Luxray," she said as she gestured to a Pokèmon with her head, "Those guys are _very _clever into finding hidden things because they can see through walls and stuff! Pretty neat, huh?"

"Well, my Aura abilities also allow something similar to that."

"Really? That's cool."

A thought came to Eldin's mind, "If. . . you do not mind me asking you something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"What made you stay with your human?"

Since Eldin already knew how Louie, Beverly, and Dipper ended up being with their Trainers, he still did not know how the others came in.

"Mine's a bit boring," Ashley did her way of shrugging, "but I was only a Shellos when I first met Alicia."

"Oh?" Eldin rose a brow.

Ashley's head slowly moved back and forth, "Up north from here is a place called the Fuego Ironworks. . . Or . . . at least that's what I think it's called. Anyway, I used to live in the river and grass not too far from that building. Humans didn't bother us often, probably because the humans in that building often said something like 'Employee's Only.' Whatever that means."

The West Sea Gastrodon flexed her neck again, "But, like I said, uh. . . Life was peaceful and. . . stuff. . . but then I got shocked."

"Shocked?" Eldin couldn't help but feel slightly skeptical, "I thought that you are a Ground-Type."

"I am _now_," Ashley shifted slightly into a more comfortable position, "I forgot to mention that, once a year I think, a swarm of this weird Electric-Type Pokémon temporarily migrate over to I once lived. Not sure what they are, but like I said earlier, I was shocked with some electricity. . . Oh yeah! And before I, uh, forget, even though I'm a Ground-Type now, I wasn't one back then. I was just a Water-Type, and. . . Uh. . . How'd it go again? Uh. . ."

Eldin could only blink as he saw Ashley fall asleep on the spot.

"Fell asleep on you?"

Eldin turned to Dipper.

"Don't mind her, she does that sometimes," the Ursaring stretched his arms, "Sure, it can be a little annoying, but she means well."

The Lucario turned back to Ashley, who is still asleep.

"I wouldn't recommend waking her up," Telos spoke up, "Ashley hates that."

_Not even going there_. Eldin kept the thought to himself.

He turned his gaze back to Beau, who was fidgeting ever so slightly. It was no doubt that it was because of the Houndoom that was nearby. While he also has a dislike for Houndooms, he wasn't _afraid _of them.

But what if Beau is afraid of them?

_I wouldn't find it surprising if she was_. Eldin mentally answered to himself. He then realized something, if Beau is indeed afraid of any Houndoom she comes across, what caused her to have that phobia anyway?

"Eliade, you're back!"

"Sorry it took me a bit," Eliade walked up to Alicia and the others with Koki following. Koki was holding one brown bag in each arm while Eliade held one, "But it took me a while to find some essentials."

"Did you get food for Ashley?" Alicia asked as she cradled Jackson.

"That was the first thing I picked up, actually," the older Trainer grinned.

Koki placed the bags he was holding down on the floor before sitting down, prompting Eliade to do the same.

"Anyway," Eliade spoke and starting taking the items out, "I've bought some food, water, potions. . . the essentials, really. Oh, and another sleeping pad for Eldin whenever we're out camping."

"Okay," Alicia set Jackson beside Beau before dragging her own backpack towards her. She picked up some of the supplies before placing them into her bag, "I'll carry the food for the Pokémon while you carry the food for us."

"All right, but I'll make you carry a bottle of milk for Jackson, too. Just in case we get separated and that Jackson is possibly away from me."

"Sounds good."

"I'll put Eldin's sleeping pad along with the rest of the camping equipment," Eliade continued sorting out the items she bought, "We'll carry half and half on all of the healing items we have here, which are Ten Hyper Potions and Six Super Potions. We'll carry five and three of each."

"Got it," Alicia nodded, grabbing a total of eight potions before stuffing them into her bag.

Eldin only watched the two Trainers sorting out their items carefully and paid attention to nothing else. Minutes later, the two humans finished packing and stood up.

"Okay, everyone," Eliade turned to the Pokémon before her, "We're heading out right now," she turned to her Infernape, "Koki, you'll be staying out of your Poké Ball since your fire will serve as a great protection against wild Pokémon. Afterall, you don't want us to be using any Max Repel now, do you?"

Eldin couldn't help but feel a little confused when he saw Koki wrinkle his nose in disgust. Nonetheless, the Flame Pokémon nodded in response.

Eliade must have noticed Koki's disgusted look, for she giggled in amusement.

* * *

After a few more minutes of planning, Alicia recalled Ashley and Dipper before everyone else left the Pokémon Center. The only ones that were still out were Eldin and Koki, along with Telos and Beau, with Jackson clinging onto the latter's head. As soon as the group stepped out of the Pokémon Center, however, Eldin saw Beau instantly cling onto Alicia's arm. Remembering what Beverly had told him earlier, he shouldn't find it surprising. This _was _the place where Alicia found Beau, after all.

Eliade led the group to the East, and within half an hour they exited the city limits. Eldin looked back at Jubilife City behind him for a brief moment, but he shook his head and continued walking. The sun was getting close to setting in the horizon, but neither of the humans nor the Pokémon seemed concerned about it.

Koki, with his excellent hearing, was quick to alert everyone else for any signs of danger. Thankfully, the only thing that Koki found that seemed dangerous was a Golbat that was flying on by. Once it flew off, everyone continued on for another hour.

Beau finally calmed down and released Alicia from her grasp, but she still walked beside her Trainer. The female Lucario now had her sole focus on the road and Jackson, who was now clinging onto her chest.

Eldin only looked back one last time.

_It looks like. . . I will never be able to go back_.

He turned away, now with a fiery look in his eyes.

_But_. . .

. . .

_I won't _ever_ regret it_.

* * *

The walk through the caves was pretty much uneventful. Koki's fire provided plenty of light for the group while Telos's psychic skills allowed him to ward off any oncoming Zubats.

Eliade had her hand on Eldin's shoulder the entire time they were in the cave, probably to make sure that he wouldn't get separated from her.

The Pokémon that was found in the cave weren't that much different compared to the ones found on Iron Island, although Eldin _did_ notice the lack of certain snake-shaped Pokémon. Then again, the cave _is_ a bit small. . .

"Hey, Eliade," Alicia tilted her head in a questioning manner, "How much longer will it take to get to Oreburgh City?"

"We should be there in about half an hour," Eliade looked at an odd device that was her wrist, a "Pokétch" if Eldin could recall the name, "It's almost nine, so we should be there by nine-thirty."

"All right."

Eliade continued, this time with her fingers raised, "As soon as we get to the Pokémon Center, we'll have a quick meal and turn in for the night. Then we'll wake up early so we can head on over to Hearthome City. At this rate, we should be able to reach Hearthome by tomorrow night. You will be able to have all the time you need to practice for the Melissa Cup there."

"Sounds good to me!" Alicia grinned, then faltered, "Oh, wait, there's also the occasional Trainer challenging us for a battle. . . That would slow us down."

"We'll just stay of their sight like we usually do," Eliade shrugged, "Don't get me wrong, I don't mind Pokémon battling, but I don't want to in order to get to certain places on time. And plus, Eldin still hasn't properly adjusted to the team yet," she gently squeezed Eldin's shoulder, "Once he adjusts, everything should be fine."

"All right," Alicia grinned, "So we'll just keep on going with 'Operation: Ariados,' right?"

"Pretty much," Eliade shrugged, amused.

". . . 'Operation: Ariados'?" Eldin turned to Telos and Koki for an answer.

"We'll explain later. Promise," Telos reassured, although it didn't stop the grin that was growing on the blue Gallade's face.

". . . . . . . . . ." Eldin opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it since he knew he won't be getting any answers any time soon. Plus, Koki's snickers were beginning to make him a little nervous. With a deadpan look on Eldin's face, he sighed a little as his ears drooped slightly.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

**Now, really, Eldin. How will I be able to answer that?**

**By the way, since you guys never commented about the name origin of the Melissa Cup, here's the thing: Fantina's Japanese name is Melissa, and Phantomhive is a vague (somewhat) reference to the Kuroshitsuji manga, since one of the main characters is named Ciel Phantomhive. It has the word "phantom" in it, thus reminding me of ghosts, and Fantina uses Ghost-type Pokémon. I could not find it a name any more fitting than that.**

**Remember, I'm a sucker for names, if I find anything that needs naming, I put a lot of research and thought into them.**

**Oh yeah, and can you identify the Pokémon that Ashley was talking about? If you can, then good for you. Heck, I might even try to model a Trainer after you for the upcoming Melissa Cup if you get it right!**


End file.
